CHINA'S 
OPEN  DOOR 


ii7 


AN  HISTORICAL  SKETCH 


R0UN5EVELLEWILDMAN 

U.S.  CONSUL  GENERAL  at  HONG  KONL- 


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^  China's  ^ 
Open  Door 

A  Sketch  of  Chinese  Life 
and  History         ^  ^ 

By  ROUNSE  VELLE  WILD  MAN,  M.A. 

Consul  General  of  the   United  States  at  Hong  Kong, 
Author  of '■'•Tales  of  Malayan  Coast"  etc.       «>>        ^ 


With  an  Introduction  by 
Cha  RLES     DENB  Y 

Former  U.S.  Minister  to  China, 


>      ILLUSTRATED     ^ 


Boston:    Lothrop  Publishing  Company 


COPYRIGHT,  1900, 

BY 

LOTHROP  PUBLISHING  COMPANY. 

ALL     RIGHTS      RESERVED 


CONTENTS, 


C3IAPTBR  FAGB 

I.     A  Word  at  the  Open  Door 1 

11.     As  TO  THE  Proper  Ebading  op  Chinese  His- 
tory   4 

III.  From  Fuh-hi  to  Confucius 42 

IV.  From  the  Tsin  to  the  Tang  Dynasties     .     .  63 
V.     From  Wu  the  Empress   to  the  Last  of  the 

Mings 80 

VI.     The  Rise  of  the  Manchu  Dynasty   .     .     .     .  115 

VII.     From  Chien  Lung  to  Hienfung 136 

VIII.     From  the  Taipino  Rebellion  to  the  Chufoo 

Convention 160 

IX.     Tung  Chi  and  the  Regency 184 

X.     The  Reign  of  Kwang  Su 205 

XI.     The  Commercial  Outlook 216 

XII.     Canton,  the  Typical  City 228 

XIII.  Peking,  the  Capital  City 270 

XIV.  Ths  Box£b  Ufbisimo 301 


LIST   OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

FACING 

Li  Hung  Chang Frontispiece 

As  Old  as   China.     The  Wheelbarrow   a   Mode   of 

Travel  in  China  in  Use  for  Ages 12 

Confucian  Temple.      Hall  of    Classics.      Imperial 

Pavilion.     Forbidden  City,  Peking 54 

Great  Wall  of  China  Looking  North-east     .     .     .     116 

Stkbet  Scene  in  Tientsin 150 

Panorama  of  Hong  Kong 170 

Street  in  the  Concession,  Shanghai 190 

The   Typical    Chinese   City,  Canton  on  the  Pearl. 
"The  Streetless  City  stretches  away  with  its 
Maze   of   Shipping,   broken  Here  and  There  by 
the  Towering  Pawn-Shops  and  the  Open  Spaces 

ABOUT  Yamens  and  Temples  " 230 

The  Canoue  :  A  Form  of  Chinese  Punishment.     "  It 
IS   the   Absence   of   Nerves   that    enables    the 
Chinese  to  endure  Pain  as  Well  as  Toil     .     .     266 
Camel  Train.     Outside   the   Peking  Wall.      Mili- 
tary Gate,  showing  Moat 274 

The  Examination  Halls,  Peking,  where  the  Best 
Student     is    esteemed    the    Greatest    Man     in 

China 294 

A  Bird's-Eye  View  from  the  Gulf  of  Pechili  to 
Peking.  Showing  the  Route  of  the  Relief 
Expedition  of  1900 310 


INTRODUCTION, 

THIS  book  is  a  fit  and  much  needed  suc- 
cessor to  the  "  Middle  Kingdom,"  by 
Doctor  S.  S.  Williams.  As  a  digest  of 
information  touching  China,  the  "  Middle  King- 
dom "  must  always  rank  first  among  the  books 
which  treat  of  that  empire.  Next  to  it  this  book 
will  take  its  place  in  literature. 

Splendid  as  Williams's  history  is,  the  student 
sometimes  complains  of  dryness;  but  no  such 
charge  can  be  made  against  the  accomplished  au- 
thor of  this  book,  to  whom  experience  in  many 
forms  of  writing  has  taught  the  lesson  that  the 
first  requisite  of  success  is  to  please  the  reader. 
In  this,  Mr.  Wildman  has  preeminently  succeeded. 
This  book  is  written  in  pure  English.  It  is  clear 
and  concise  in  language,  easy  to  understand,  and 
opens  up  vistas  of  information  which,  until  now, 
have  been  unknown  to  the  general  reader.  At 
the  beginning  the  keynote  is  struck  —  the  author 
knows  his  subject.  One  sees  plainly  that  he  has 
not  drawn  his  description  from  books  or  from  the 


viii  INTRODUCTION. 

chance  observations  of  the  hurrying  tourist,  but 
from  the  passing  of  many  days  among  the  Chinese, 
and  the  watching,  during  many  years,  their  actual 
life  and  the  political  phases  of  the  imperial  gov- 
ernment. The  author's  own  sound  declaration  is 
that  to  understand  Chinese  history  you  must  know 
the  people.  Knowing  them,  he  has  built  up,  step 
by  step,  a  succinct  history  of  China  from  its  early 
days  down  to  the  uprisal  of  the  "  Boxers."  I  shall 
not  undertake  in  this  introduction  to  review,  page 
by  page,  the  contents  of  tliis  volume,  but  simply 
to  draw  attention  to  the  starting-point  and  the 
successive  stages  of  historic  lore  which,  in  admira' 
ble  sequence,  are  brought  to  our  attention. 

At  the  beginning  it  is  asserted  that  the  charac- 
teristics and  pecuUarities  of  the  Chinese  must  be 
understood  in  order  to  judge  them  aright,  and  then 
follows  a  succinct,  but  complete  description  of 
these  characteristics.  Lying  at  the  bottom  of 
Chinese  character  is  respect  for  "face."  The  for- 
eign resident  of  China  knows  that  he  must  not 
reprove  his  "  boy  "  before  strangers,  that  he  must 
not  unjustly  punish  him.  Once,  on  one  of  our 
men-of-war,  when  a  servant,  as  the  other  servants 
believed,  was  wrongfully  discharged,  every  China- 
man aboard  the  ship  left.  The  author  illustrates 
this  underlying  principle  by  many  examples,  and 


INTRODUCTION.  ix 

he  carries  his  observance  into  the  highest  realms 
of  governmental  polity.  I  well'  remember  that 
the  members  of  the  Tsung  Li  Yamen  complained 
that  some  foreign  representative  made  them  lose 
"  face  "  by  pounding  on  the  table  and  bawling  at 
them.  The  portion  of  the  book  which  discusses 
"  face "  is  somewhat  new  in  its  treatment,  and 
should  be  carefully  considered,  because  it  fur- 
nishes an  explanation  of  many  events  in  Chinese 
history  wliich,  before,  were  obscure. 

To  the  Chinese,  as  Mr.  Wildman  intimates, 
"  face  "  takes  the  place  of  patriotism.  The  dis- 
'Cussion  of  politics,  except  in  the  secret  societies, 
has  been  an  unknown-  art  in  China.  The  struggle 
for  existence  has  been  too  intense  to  waste  time 
on  the  doings  of  the  mandarins  or  the  foreigners. 
Well  does  the  author  say  that,  in  place  of  patriot- 
ism, you  find  "  untiring  industry,  marvelous  econ- 
omy, filial  piety,  and  a  calm  respect  for  law." 

Americans  are  the  most  wasteful  people  in  the 
world.  I  look  out  now  from  my  window  over 
thousands  and  thousands  of  acres  on  which  the 
tall  com  is  waving  its  silken  tassel.  When  Oc- 
tober comes  the  harvesters  will  drive  wagons 
along  the  rows,  and  they  will  pull  the  ears  only, 
and  leave  the  shuck,  the  fodder,  and  the  stack  un- 
touched.    Cattle    will   be   turned    in  to   feed    on 


X  INTRODUCTION. 

these  during  the  winter,  but  they  will  destroy 
more  than  they  eat.  In  China  each  blade  of  grass 
is  uprooted  and  put  to  some  use.  At  Swatow 
once  there  were  many  refugees,  Christians,  who 
had  refused  to  contribute  to  the  fund  for  the  gods 
and  the  temples.  The  missionaries  were  paying 
the  adults  for  their  support  a  Mexican  dollar  a 
month — then  about  seventy-five  cents  of  our 
money — and  it  sufficed.  But  the  author  has  told 
of  this  better  than  I  can. 

The  dress,  the  manners,  the  customs,  of  the 
Chinese  are  described  with  a  master's  hand.  On 
this  plan  of  picturing  the  common  every-day 
doings  of  his  countrymen  Macaulay  wrote  his 
history. 

Ancestral  worship  —  the  fundamental  principle 
of  Chinese  policy — is  well  and  forcibly  explained. 
Chinese  conservatism,  which  has  held  China  fixed 
as  the  northern  star,  while  the  nations  around  her 
have  tottered  and  fallen,  is  thoroughly  elucidated. 

Having  pictured  the  Chinaman  as  he  is,  the 
author  takes  up  the  history  of  China  from  the  re- 
motest period,  and  brings  it  down  to  the  present 
time.  It  is  not  necessary  for  me  to  follow  him 
through  the  various  dynasties  whose  chronicles 
are  touched  on  sufficiently  to  fill  out  the  great 
picture  of  China.     From  the  reign  of  Fuh-hi,  2852 


INTRODUCTION.  xi 

B.  c,  the  contemporaneous  history  of  China  com- 
menced, and  thenceforward  the  liistorical  records 
are  complete.  The  author  pays  admirable  tribute 
to  Confucius.  Nowhere  is  there  a  more  correct 
estimate  of  the  character  of  the  sage.  Through 
the  great  invasion  of  the  Mongols,  who  conquered 
China  in  1276,  and  the  conquest  of  the  Manchus 
in  1644,  the  book  goes  on,  reading  like  the  pages 
of  a  historical  romance.  Names  that  you  have 
barely  heard  in  your  life,  for  instance,  those  of 
Kublai  Khan,  Marco  Polo,  the  Chaus  and  the 
Hans,  stand  out  here  in  interesting  portrayal.  It 
is  wonderful  what  a  mass  of  information  has 
been  collected  in  this  book.  Incidentally  we  learn 
about  Burmah,  Korea,  Siam,  Tonquin,  Thibet, 
,  Japan,  in  fact  the  whole  of  Asia.  It  cannot  be 
expected  that  I  should  agree  with  everything  that 
the  author  says ;  but  as  I  am  not  reviewing  his 
book,  I  do  not  feel  called  upon  to  specify  the 
points  wherein  I  differ  with  him.  They  are  not 
many.  He  treats,  I  think,  the  missionaries  rather 
cavalierly,  and  does  not  give  them  as  a  class  the 
credit  they  deserve.  It  is  strongly  brought  out 
in  this  book  that  China  has  never  lost  its  indi- 
viduality. Indeed,  the  Chinese  have  absorbed 
their  conquerors.  Nominally  the  Manchu  dynasty 
reigns  to-day;  but  the  fate  of  China  will  be  deter- 


xii  INTRODUCTION. 

mined  by  the  people,  and,  excepting  twenty  mil- 
lions of  Manchus,  they  are  Chinese. 

On  the  opium  question  the  author  is  lenient. 
It  will  not  do  to  compare  opium  with  alcohol. 
The  drug  is  always  simply  brutalizing,  and  dele- 
terious. All  things  are  either  good  or  bad, 
and  the  use  of  opium  is  unquestionably  bad. 
It  is  the  curse  of  China.  I  cannot  too  highly 
commend  the  author's  history  of  what  may  be 
called  our  own  times  in  China  —  say  from  1842 
down  to  1900.  A  correct  and  most  interesting 
account  is  given  of  a  period  which  has  been 
treated  with  accuracy  by  Williams,  but  to  whose 
treatment  Mr.  Wildman  has  added  the  touches  of 
glowing  and  sparkling  style.  He  has  brought 
out  many  new  facts,  and  his  chronology  of  events 
is  perfect.  In  the  sweep  of  this  panoramic  book, 
we  come  at  last  to  the  reign  of  Hienfeng,  the 
Taiping  Rebellion,  the  making  of  the  treaties  of 
1857,  the  advance  on  Peking  in  1859,  the  re- 
pulse of  the  allies  at  Taku,  the  renewal  of  the 
attack  in  1860,  the  taking  of  Peking,  the  rati- 
fication of  the  treaties,  the  induction  of  China 
into  the  family  of  nations,  and  the  outbreak  of 
1900.  A  fund  of  anecdote  and  character  paint- 
ing is  found  in  these  pages,  much  of  which  is 
absolutely  new.     Alas,  in   some   respects,  books 


INTRODUCTION.  xiii 

about  China  will  have  to  be  rewritten!  Japan 
"  turned  a  new  leaf  "  when  she  taught  the  sleeping 
giant  what  modern  fire-arms  could  accomplish. 
Mr.  Wildman  describes  Eastern  diplomacy  with 
many  touches  of  satire,  but  recent  events  have 
changed  its  tone.  New  men  are  coming  on  the 
stage ;  and  if  China  is  not  to  be  partitioned,  she 
will  demand  the  rights  which  international  law 
insures;  then  there  will  be  no  more  pictures  of 
vacillation,  evasion,  trickery,  but  a  stand-up  fight 
for  justice,  in  which  the  conscience  of  the  world 
will  be  at  her  back. 

Books  on  China  are  greatly  confined  to  disqui- 
sitions. The  "  tenderfoot "  seems  driven  to  ad- 
vising China.  He  sees  at  a  glance  how  necessary 
are  schools,  railroads,  trained  soldiers,  and  espe- 
cially is  he  conscious  of  the  bad  morality  of  the 
Chinese  officials.  When  a  gentleman,  who  wanted 
to  sell  something,  once  gave  me  a  splendid 
essay,  showing  up  all  Chinese  corruptions,  and 
asked  me  to  translate  it  and  send  it  to  the 
Yamen,  I  inquired  whether,  if  he  wanted  to  sell 
locomotives  in  England,  he  would  prepare  an 
elaborate  attack  on  the  House  of  Lords,  and 
primogeniture,  and  the  Prince  of  Wales  and  all 
the  officials.  He  said  he  did  not  think  he  would, 
and    then  I  asked   him  why   he   did   this   thing 


xiv  INTRODUCTION. 

in  China.  He  did  not  have  any  satisfactory  an- 
swer. 

Mr.  Wildman  has  not  fallen  into  this  error. 
The  book  is  valuable,  because  it  tells  you  accu- 
rately, with  dates,  things  you  know,  and  many 
things  that  you  do  not  know.  From  1860  to  the 
summer  of  1900  the  history  is  minutely  accurate. 
The  old,  spectacular,  historic  Li  stands  out  in  his 
well-known  lineaments,  and  the  Semiramis  of 
China,  the  Empress-Regent  Tzi  Tsu,  fills  some 
pages  of  description.  The  treatment  of  Korea, 
the  episode  with  France,  the  Japanese  war,  are 
all  told  of,  with  many  side-lights  which  illumine 
the  bare  facts.  At  the  last  we  have  the  account 
of  the  seizure  of  Chinese  territory  by  Germany, 
Russia,  England,  and  France,  and  a  luminous 
recital  of  the  conduct  of  our  Government  touch- 
ing the  "  Open  Door,"  and  we  are  brought  down 
to  the  beginning  of  the  "Boxer"  movement. 
With  this  uprisal  for  a  text,  some  future  writer 
will  unravel  the  tangled  skein  of  the  Chinese 
situation. 

Mr.  Wildman's  position  as  consul  at  Hong- 
kong has  given  him  great  facilities  to  acquire 
knowledge  as  to  trade,  and  the  steps  necessary 
to  secure  it.  His  chapter  on  that  subject  will  be 
worth   the  price  of   this   book   to   the  merchant. 


INTRODUCTION.  xv 

Trade  is  a  field  which  the  ordinary  tourist  leaves 
severely  alone.  There  is  more  competition  in 
China  than  in  almost  any  land  on  the  globe. 
The  syndicates  of  many  nations  are  on  the  ground, 
and,  since  the  appearance  of  the  Germans  in  the 
arena,  prices  are  cut  to  the  lowest  figure.  China 
is  overrun  with  articles  marked,  "  Made  in  Ger- 
many ; "  but  goods  of  English  and  American  make 
excel  them  in  quaUty.  Labels  are  counterfeited, 
but  I  always  found  the  Chinese  officials  ready  to 
arrest  and  punish  the  offenders.  There  was,  at 
Tientsin,  a  notable  case  involving  the  putting  of 
"Indian  Head"  labels  on  cotton  cloth  made  in 
China. 

One  of  the  most  readable  and  most  accurate 
chapters  in  the  book  is  the  one  on  Canton.  This 
bewildering  bazaar  city  is  described  in  the  most 
pleasing  style.  It  is  a  vast  show-shop,  where 
silverware,  jewelry,  articles  in  ivory,  embroideries, 
rare  furniture,  everything  that  the  mind  can  con- 
ceive of,  is  made  under  your  very  eye.  You  may 
stand  in  a  street  six  feet  wide,  and  watch  the 
evolution  under  the  workman's  hand  of  the  most 
precious  curios,  and  when  they  are  finished  you 
can  buy  them  at  reasonable  prices. 

Canton  is  the  most  interesting  city  in  China,  or, 
perhaps,  in  its  own  realm  of  the  manufacture  of 


xvi  INTRODUCTION. 

objects  of  art,  in  the  world.  It  is  the  typical  city 
of  the  empire  as  Peking  is  its  metropoHs.  A 
chapter  on  the  capital  city  of  China,  supplied  at 
Mr.  Wildman's  request,  embodies  my  own  study 
of  Peking,  and  will,  it  is  hoped,  fall  in  line  with 
the  other  descriptive  matter. 

This  book  is  a  splendid  production.  It  does 
honor  to  the  learning,  the  faculty  of  composition, 
and  the  indefatigable  industry  of  the  author. 


CE/a^cu-A^  Gb 


«^ 


Chinas  Open  Door. 
I. 

A    WORD   AT    THE    OPEN    DOOR. 

CHINESE  HISTORY  becomes  interesting 
when  you  know,  or  think  you  know,  the 
Chinese.  Even  a  superficial  acquaintance 
explains  many  things  in  their  national  records  that 
on  first  introduction  strikes  one  as  both  inane  and 
impossible.  Chinese  history  cannot  be  compared 
with  that  of  other  nations  any  more  than  you  can 
parallel  the  character  of  the  Chinese  with  that  of 
any  contemporary  race.  It  is  a  repetition  of  it- 
self, many  times  repeated.  The  same  causes  have 
produced  the  same  effects  for  four  thousand  years. 
The  causes  lie  in  the  chamcter  of  the  Chinese,  and 
are  seemingly  unchangeable.  The  Chinamen  of 
3000  B.C.  are  the  identical  Chinamen  that  greeted 
us  at  the  opening  of  the  Treaty  Ports.  A  story 
like  Mark  Twain's  delightful  "A  Yankee  in 
King  Arthur's  Court  "  would  be  impossible  from 


2  CHINA'S    OPEN   DOOR. 

a  Chinese  standpoint.  If  Confucius  had  returned 
to  China  a  thousand  years  after  his  death,  he 
would  have  found  everything  substantially  as  he 
left  it.  The  greatest  change  in  Chinese  life  was 
wrought  by  Confucius  himself.  He  remodeled 
the  entire  system  of  thought,  and  gave  his  country- 
men an  intellectual  life,  —  a  feat  that,  to  one  who 
has  lived  among  the  Chinese  and  daily  experienced 
their  inertia,  suspicion,  and  conservatism,  seems 
little  short  of  the  miraculous. 

It  is  not  necessary,  however,  to  personally  know 
the  Chinese  to  admire  and  marvel  at  their  history 
when  taken  as  a  grand  result,  an  accomplished 
fact.  Since  the  dawn  of  history  China  has  been 
a  civilized  and  religious  nation  with  a  written  his- 
tory. She  has  had  a  continuous  national  life,  and 
has  never  been  driven  from  her  "  Garden  of 
Eden."  She  has  had  wars  as  sanguinary,  as  ad- 
mirably conducted,  and  of  as  great  magnitude,  as 
any  of  the  nations  have  had  from  Egypt  to  Amer- 
ica. Her  arms  have  generally  been  successful ; 
but  if  she  were  conquered  it  meant  the  absorption 
of  her  conquerors.  There  have  been  good  kings 
and  bad  kings  in  tiresome  rotation;  there  have 
been  famines  and  floods ;  but  there  has  been  no  per- 
manent decay  or  death  in  her  national  life  up  to 
the  coming  of  the  European.     And  who  knows 


A    WORT>    AT    THE    DOOR.  3 

but  that  the  "break  up  of  China"  will  be  but 
another  case  of  Chinese  history  repeating  itself, 
and  that  she  will  absorb  the  white  man  as  fast  as 
he  gains  admission  to  her  walled  cities,  and  so 
establish  within  the  next  century  —  and  what  is 
a  century  to  China!  —  a  new  dynasty  that  will 
insure  her  existence  as  a  nation  for  another  thou- 
sand years. 

Why  have  not  other  nations  of  the  past  discov- 
ered the  secret  of  China's  everlasting  life,  and 
modeled  their  own  upon  it?  It  is  because  the 
secret  lives  in  every  Chinaman's  face,  in  his  every 
act,  a  secret  only  to  those  who  will  not  see. 
The  Egyptian,  the  Persian,  and  the  Greek  would 
have  to  be  born  a  Chinaman  in  order  to  take  ad- 
vantage of  this  —  the  so-styled  secret ;  they  would 
have  to  possess  fully  the  Chinese  character,  which 
is  as  different  from  their  own  in  every  point  of 
contact  as  is  the  atmosphere  of  Mars  from  that  of 
the  earth. 

If  Chinese  character  can  be  given  an  individu- 
ality and  pictured  so  that  the  reader  will  know 
and  see  the  Chinaman  as  we  know  and  see  him  in 
China,  then  Chinese  history  will  have  a  throb  and 
Chinese  life  a  fascination.  We  will  be  standing 
before  China's  slowly  opening  door  with  one  foot 
within  the  threshold. 


CHINA'S    OPEN    DOOR. 


11. 


AS    TO    THE  PROPER    READING    OF 
CHINESE   HISTORT. 

THE  Westerner  must  assume  a  new  view 
in  attempting  to  understand  the  his- 
tory of  China.  He  must  first  know  of 
Chinese  peculiarities  and  characteristics,  and  this, 
of  itself,  is  a  new  study.  For  instance,  to  the 
Occidental  the  performance  of  saving  "  Face " 
is  a  comedy.  We  attend  its  rehearsal  on  the 
street  and  in  our  own  compounds  until  its  plot 
becomes  so  familiar  that  it  fails  to  arrest  our 
attention  unless  we  happen  to  remember  that  the 
impassioned  actors  are  giving  us  an  object  lesson 
that  typifies  one  of  the  all-controlling  features  of 
Chinese  life.  When  there  is  bad  blood  between 
Ah  Ming  our  "boy"  and  Chung  the  "Cookee  "  they 
do  not  come  immediately  to  blows,  which  would 
be  dangerous.  They  go  into  the  street,  and 
commence  to  revile  each  other  and  each  other's 
ancestors  at  the  top  of  their  voices.  As  a  crowd 
collects  they  grow  more  intense,  and  every  minute 


"SAVING    face:*  5 

threaten  to  spring  at  each  other's  throat.  When 
they  have  worked  themselves  up  to  a  pitch  of 
maniacal  delirium  that  promises  apoplexy,  two 
men  step  out  of  the  crowd,  and  grasp  the  boy  and 
the  cookee  by  the  arm.  Both  go  through  a  fierce 
theati'ical  struggle  for  freedom.  Then  they  turn  the 
phials  of  their  wrath  on  their  peacemakers,  and  to 
the  simple  on-looker  it  would  seem  that  the  keep- 
ers of  peace  would  be  killed  for  their  pains.  In 
the  meantime  Ming  and  his  peacemaker,  and 
Chmig  and  his,  are  some  rods  apart,  and  separated 
by  an  interested  crowd.  Then  with  a  final  appal- 
ling burst  they  tear  away  from  their  guardians, 
and  depart  calmly  on  their  separate  "  pidgins." 
They  have  let  their  bad  blood  preserve  their  "face," 
and,  save  for  mutual  hoarseness,  are  unhurt.  Time 
and  again  I  have  watched  one  of  these  theatrical 
exhibitions.  In  the  gathering  crowd  will  often  be 
one  or  more  native  policemen.  No  one  smiles, 
unless  some  mishap  occurs,  then  every  one  will 
scream  with  laughter.  No  one  thinks  of  inteifer- 
ing  until  the  right  moment,  and  every  one  knows 
exactly  what  the  end  will  be.  It  is  purely  a 
forensic  contest.  A  boat-woman  whose  husband 
has  corrected  her  in  the  morning  and  put  her  in  a 
temper,  will  wait  until  he  is  out  of  sight,  and  then 
go  to  the  most  crowded  spot  along  the  wharves, 


6  CHINA'S   OPEN  BOOR. 

ascend  a  pile  of  lumber,  and  commence  to  revile 
her  daughter-in-law,  who  is  not  present,  or  any 
member  of  the  crowd  who  may  address  a  scoffing 
word  to  her.  She  wiU  go  on  for  an  hour,  jesticu- 
lating,  running  through  the  entire  gamut  of  the 
Delsarte  school,  until  the  audience  leave,  or  it  is 
time  for  her  to  get  back  to  her  boat.  She  has 
asserted  her  rights  to  the  free  speech  which  her 
husband  denied  her,  and  said  all  the  things  to  the 
world  at  large  that  she  would  like  to  have  said 
to  him.  Her  "  face "  is  saved.  The  saving  of 
face  starts  at  the  Pink  Palace  at  Peking,  and  goes 
all  through  Chinese  life.  It  has  changed  history, 
wrecked  dynasties,  remade  religions,  and  caused  a 
multitude  of  law-suits.  Its  complexities  and  rami- 
fications are  beyond  the  comprehension  of  the 
Westerner.  An  Occidental  synonym  might  be 
prestige,  in  its  commonest  definition.  A  China- 
man who  loses  his  face  loses  his  credit,  his  stand- 
ing, his  prestige  among  his  fellows,  and  becomes 
the  laughing-stock  of  the  meanest  coolie.  In 
1796  Lord  Macartney  was  sent  to  Peking  by  the 
British  government  to  try  and  open  diplomatic 
intercourse.  The  Emperor  Chien  Lung  feared  to 
refuse  to  receive  the  ambassador ;  but  he  saved  his 
face  before  his  people  by  flying  over  the  vessel  on 
which  the  noble  lord  ascended  the  Peiho,  a  flag. 


''FACE''   IN   CHINESE   HISTORT.        7 

which  read  in  Chinese  "  Tribute  Bearer  from  the 
Country  of  England."  In  June,  1873,  the  Em- 
peror Tung  Chih,  to  the  gratification  of  the  for- 
eign ministers,  graciously  condescended  to  reoeive 
them  in  audience.  It  was  looked  upon  for  the 
moment  as  a  triumph  of  Western  diplomacy  and 
firmness  until  it  was  discovered  that  Frederick  E. 
Low,  the  American  minister,  and  the  ministers 
for  England,  France,  Russia,  Netherlands,  and 
Japan,  had  been  received  by  the  Son  of  Heaven  in 
the  Pavilion  of  Purple  Light,  where  his  majesty  re- 
ceived the  envoys  of  tributary  states.  Again  the 
Chinese  face  had  been  saved.  The  suicide  of  gal- 
lant Admiral  Ting,  after  the  occupation  of  Port  Ar- 
thur, was  but  the  last  of  a  long  succession  of  like 
cases  of  saving  face  by  means  of  death.  This  char- 
acteristic is  not  confined  to  individuals ;  it  governs 
the  attitude  of  one  village  or  clan  towards  another, 
and  the  strife  that  takes  place  to  preserve  the  bal- 
ance of  face  often  becomes  a  vendetta  that  lasts  for 
generations.  The  history  of  China  when  read  in 
the  light  of  a  knowledge  of  this  national  charac- 
teristic will  reveal  the  reason  for  many  acts  that 
before  seemed  without  sense  or  rhyme. 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind,  however,  that  this 
struggle  to  preserve  face  is  nt)t  to  be  confounded 
with  patriotism  or  love  of  country.     There  is  no 


8  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

National  Face  that  the  400,000,000  of  China  are 
sworn  to  protect  with  their  lives.  With  them  it 
is  every  man  for  himself,  and  the  country  for  itr 
self.  I  will  wager  that  the  Japanese-Chinese  war, 
a  historical  fact,  is  not  known  to  one-tenth  of  the 
population  of  China ;  and  if  they  did  know  of  it, 
they  would  not  feel  any  more  interest  in  it  than 
did  those  who  were  supposed  to  have  taken  an 
active  part  in  the  campaign.  Public  spirit  is  ab- 
solutely wanting.  In  its  place  is  a  deep-seated  in- 
difference, that  is  tempered  with  a  calm  respect  for 
law  and  power.  The  law  may  be  bad  and  the 
power  tyrannical,  but  that  is  no  business  of  those 
who  have  to  obey.  The  life  of  China  has  been  pre- 
served through  the  centuries  by  moral  rather  than 
physical  forces.  Early  in  1898,  just  after  Russia 
had  occupied  Port  Arthur,  Germany  Kia  Chou, 
England  Wei  Hai  Wai,  and  France  Kwang 
Chowan,  and  it  looked  as  though  the  dismember- 
ment of  China  was  at  hand,  a  delegation  of  rich 
merchants  from  Canton  waited  upon  me  by  a  pre- 
vious appointment,  and  proposed  to  buy  from  the 
viceroy  of  the  Two  Kwangs,  and  from  the  indi- 
vidual owners,  all  the  property  on  the  Honam  side 
of  Canton,  build  wharves,  reclaim  the  waste  land, 
and  then  remove  all  their  big  mercantile  interests 
there.     In  fact,  they  proposed  to  create  a  rival  to 


LACK    OF    PATRIOTISM.  9 

Canton,  and  then  cede  it  to  the  United  States  if 
we  would  give  it  the  protection  of  our  flag.  If 
we  deemed  it  not  feasible  to  go  into  inland  China, 
they  further  proposed  to  buy  a  large  island  adja- 
cent to  Hong  Kong  and  make  it  their  emporium. 
In  reply  to  my  many  questions  they  showed  no 
love  foi  their  own  flag,  or  interest  in  the  "  break- 
up" of  China,  further  than  it  affected  their  per- 
sons. 

I  was  in  San  Francisco  during  the  Chinese^ 
Japanese  War.  The  little  colony  of  Japanese  in 
that  city  raised  a  patriotic  fund,  and  offered  their 
services  to  their  fatherland,  while  "  Chinatown," 
numbering  over  70,000  souls  and  representing 
many  millions  of  capital,  did  nothing  nor  made 
any  pretensions.  The  Chinaman  pays  his  taxes, 
and  submits  to  all  the  "squeezes,"  and  rightly 
considers  it  as  so  much  money  lost,  as  it  never 
reappears  in  roads,  canals,  or  public  buildings. 
He  does  not  even  have  police  protection  or  jus- 
tice for  it.  There  is  no  such  thing  as  politics 
in  the  empire  outside  the  court,  where  it  is  noth- 
ing more  than  intrigue.  Appointments  to  office 
are  either  the  result  of  literary  examinations  or 
court  favoritism.  Even  the  claim  of  a  success- 
ful candidate  at  a  triennial  examination  has  to 
be  backed  by  a  substantial  kumshaw  at  Peking 


10  CHINA'S    OPEN   DOOR. 

before  he  obtains  the  coveted  official  appoint- 
ment. The  salaries  of  all  officials  in  China  are 
merely  nominal,  and  in  themselves  would  not  be 
worth  the  endeavor  of  an  honest  man  to  obtain. 
The  government  is  in  a  sense  patriarchal,  and 
like  all  patriarchs  is  supposed  to  be  old  enough, 
wise  enough,  and  strong  enough  to  do  without 
the  advice  of  its  children.  In  the  war  of  1860 
between  England  and  China,  the  invading  army 
employed  Chinese  not  only  for  carrying  baggage 
and  throwing  up  intrenchments,  but  a  corps  of 
several  thousand  strong  was  carefully  drilled  to- 
plant  scaling-ladders  and  handle  ammunition ;  and 
at  the  storming  of  the  Taku  forts  it  showed  un- 
expected bravery  and  an  exultant  pride  in  the 
success  of  its  new  master.  Patriotism  in  its  na- 
tive land  was  an  unknown  quantity,  while  rations 
and  good  pay  were  something  that  every  China- 
man could  understand.  Curiously  enough  Chi- 
nese officialdom  did  not  look  upon  the  members 
of  this  corps  as  actual  traitors,  and  the  only  pun- 
ishment they  received  was  to  have  their  que  us 
cut  off.  The  Chinese  government  itself,  the  mo- 
ment the  war  was  over,  turned  around  and  begged 
of  their  conquerors  the  loan  of  a  number  of  Eng- 
lish officers  to  drill  their  men  so  that  they  would 
equal  this  corps  of,  what  the  world  would  style, 


ECONOMY  A    SCIENCE.  11 

traitors  and  renegades.  When  Kublai  Khan  was 
struggling  for  the  conquest  of  China,  he  found  his 
progress  stopped  by  the  strongly  fortified  city  of 
Siang  Yang  on  the  bank  of  the  Han  River.  His 
general,  Ashu,  soon  discovered  that  its  capture 
without  the  aid  of  ships  would  be  impossible. 
He  set  about  the  construction  of  a  fleet  of  war- 
junks.  The  Mogul  soldiers  were,  however,  not 
sailors ;  and  proclamations  were  posted  all  over  the 
enemy's  country,  offering  good  wages  and  good 
rewards  for  men  who  were  able  to  manage  ships. 
More  than  70,00  Chinese  responded,  and  enlisted 
to  fight  their  own  fatherland  under  the  banners 
of  its  most  inveterate  enemy. 

China  has  no  national  air  I 

The  very  absence  of  patriotism  shows  again  that 
comparisons  with  China  are  only  possible  by  con- 
trast, and  that  patriotism  is  not  necessary  to  in- 
sure the  existence  of  a  nation.  There  are  other 
characteristics  that  take  its  place,  among  which 
are  untiring  industry,  marvelous  economy,  filial 
piety,  and,  as  has  been  before  said,  a  calm  respect 
for  law.  No  Occidental  can  comprehend  the  full 
significance  of  Chinese  economy.  Economy  to  the 
Chinese  is  more  than  a  moral  principle.  It  is  an 
art  and  a  science  that  has  been  perfected  through 
the  centuries.    They  realize  better  than  we  that  the 


12  CHINA'S    OPEN    DOOR. 

Lord  made  nothing  without  a  purpose,  and  they 
have  discovered  what  we  have  not  —  the  purpose. 
The  animal  and  vegetable  kingdoms  are  as  open 
books  to  the  most  ignorant  villagers.  Every  weed 
has  its  use,  and  no  part  of  the  animal  goes  to 
waste.  Two  cents  a  day  is  a  fair  estimate  per 
head  of  what  it  costs  to  feed  390,000,000  of 
China's  400,000,000.  Rice,  beans,  garden  vege- 
tables, supplemented  with  any  kind  of  fish,  make 
up  their  daily  diet;  and  as  simple  as  this  is, 
often  ten  mouths  have  to  be  fed  from  a  little 
plat  of  ground  the  size  of  a  New  England  farm- 
yard, and  the  water  with  which  to  irrigate  it 
brought  from  a  long  distance.  Again,  the  soil 
has  to  be  often  literally  made,  and  when  made, 
held  in  place  by  embankments  for  fear  that  dur- 
ing the  rainy  season  it  will  be  washed  over  on  a 
neighbor's  land.  They  rake  the  seas  with  the 
same  untiring  thoroughness  with  which  they  cul- 
tivate the  land ;  and  I  often  wonder  when  I  see 
them  returning  with  a  catch  of  fish  —  none  of 
which  are  larger  than  a  corkscrew  —  if  any  ever 
escape  to  become  respectable  in  size.  The  mo- 
ment the  tide  goes  out  —  no  matter  what  the  hour 
—  the  muddy  ocean  reaches  are  swarming  with 
delvers  for  mussels,  crabs,  and  seaweed.  Men, 
women,  and  children,  each  armed  with  a  board 


UNCHANGEABLENESS  OF  CHINA.  13 

skate,  that  will  bear  the  weight  of  one  leg  while 
they  propel  themselves  over  the  mud  with  the 
other,  explore  every  inch  of  space  for  anything 
that  can  be  eaten.  I  have  watched  them  on  a 
cold,  bitter  morning  thus  gleaning,  the  women 
carrying  their  month-old  babies  on  their  backs  by 
the  side  of  their  bags  of  sea-plunder.  The  chilKng 
water  was  up  to  the  children's  bare  feet,  and  a 
wind  was  blowing  in  shore  that  made  me  turn 
back  on  my  bicycle,  and  ride  a  mile  to  get  warm. 
A  pagoda  stood  against  the  sky  above  a  bunch  of 
low-spreading  banyans,  and  a  little  colony  of  junks 
swung  idly  on  the  incoming  tide,  their  great  mat- 
ting sails  slowly  drying  in  the  early  morning  sun. 
It  was  a  picture  for  the  artist  and  the  political 
economist.  The  grinding  industry  and  dwarfing 
economy  of  it  all  was,  however,  horribly  revolting. 
If  any  one  benefited  by  these  hardships,  in  this 
generation  or  the  next,  there  would  be  some  hope 
for  the  betterment  of  the  race;  but  the  Chinese 
coolie  lives  and  dies  by  rule  as  his  ancestors  have 
been  doing  for  six  thousand  years.  If  all  our  mis- 
sionaries in  all  our  treaty  ports  could  teach  them, 
by  precept  or  example,  that  cleanliness  is  next  to 
Godliness,  they 'would  do  more  for  China  than  even 
Confucius  did.  They  would  bring  about  a  reform 
in  the  lives  of  Cliinamen  and  in  the  body  politic  that 


14  CHINA'S   OPEN  BOOR. 

would  mean  the  opening  of  China's  ports  to  West- 
ern civilization  and  Western  trade.  As  long  as 
the  Chinese  are  content  to  live  in  huts  with  their 
pigs  and  their  fowls,  and  sleep  and  eat  in  their 
own  filth,  it  is  hard  to  open  their  eyes  to  the  de- 
sirabihty  of  a  clean  heart  or  of  American-made 
prints.  I  have  been  in  country  districts  of  China 
that  were  almost  idealic  in  their  beauty;  every 
inch  of  cultivatable  land  was  blooming  with  gen- 
erous crops,  dotted  at  intervals  with  workers,  their 
backs  bent  over  a  paddy-field,  and  on  the  lands  of 
the  foot-hills  which  were  non-productive  stood  the 
stone  huts  of  the  population.  From  a  distance 
the  houses  looked  substantial,  clean,  and  inviting. 
A  group  of  a  half-dozen  would  be  sheltered  by  the 
branches  of  a  guard  of  massive  trees.  The  whole 
scene  was  charming;  but,  as  you  drew  near,  the 
beauty  of  the  place  faded  away  into  a  picture  of 
such  unnecessary  uncleanliness  and  squalor,  that 
you  were  conquered  by  the  usual  disgust.  There 
was  no  reason  for  it,  as  all  about  there  were  hun- 
dreds of  dry  acres,  and  scores  of  clumps  of  trees. 

The  land  could  be  had  rent  free,  and  the  soil  is 
healthy ;  and  yet  they  would  all  huddle  together, 
—  men,  children,  pigs,  and  fowls,  with  possibly 
a  shaggy  China  pony  and  a  half  dozen  mangy 
curs.     Under  these  conditions  it  is  not  long  be- 


NEGLECT  OF  SANITARY  LAWS.     15 

fore  even  a  sanitarium  would  become  a  pest-hole. 
I  have  been  in  a  mandarin's  palace  that  cost 
a  lac  of  dollars,  and  had  him  point  out  to  me 
with  pride  his  artificial  fish-pond,  supremely  un- 
conscious that  a  dead  hen  and  a  decayed  cat 
were  floating  on  its  surface  among  the  lily  pads 
and  lotus  blooms.  In  the  great  central  hall  — 
the  hall  of  his  ancestors  —  he  pointed  out  price- 
less stone  pictures,  thousand-year-old  vases,  and 
exquisite  black-wood  carvings,  while  I  held  my 
nose  over  a  pool  of  malarious  filth  that  was  oozing 
from  under  the  steps  ten  feet  away.  The  result 
is  plague,  smallpox,  and  enteric  fever.  In  Hong 
Kong  it  is  a  fight  day  by  day  to  keep  the  Chinese 
houses  in  any  thing  like  a  sanitary  condition. 
Chinese  who  have  lived  a  dozen  years  under 
British  laws,  and  Chinese  who  were  born  under 
them,  and  have  seen  each  recurring  scourge  of 
the  plague,  and  are  fully  aware  that  it  breeds  in 
filth,  yet  practice  every  deception  to  relieve  them- 
selves of  the  "  house-to-house  "  brigade.  They 
know  that  the  plague  seldom  attacks  Europeans, 
and  never  invades  the  clean  European  residential 
districts.  They  know  the  efficacy  of  chloride  of 
lime,  of  whitewash,  and  of  pure  water,  and  still 
every  day  the  EngUsh  Magistrate's  Court  is 
crowded  with  Chinese  who  have  been  trying  to 


16  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR, 

evade  the  simple  sanitary  laws  of  the  colony.  If 
a  Chinaman  is  taken  with  the  plague  the  fact  is 
concealed  from  the  authorities,  and  the  sick  man 
is  smuggled  on  a  Canton  boat,  and  conveyed  to 
his  native  village,  where,  to  his  great  satisfac- 
tion, he  is  permitted  to  die  Uke  a  dog.  He  has 
thus  saved  his  Hong  Kong  domicile  from  fumiga- 
tion and  lime-washing,  and  has  reduced  the  cost 
of  his  funeral  expenses  by  taking  himself  to  his 
s^^  family  burial  lot.  The  fact  that  plague  germs 
are  in  the  house,  and  that  the  lack  of  fumigation 
may  cause  the  death  of  his  sorrowing  wife  and 
children,  is  neither  considered  by  the  Hving  nor 
the  dead,  as  it  conflicts  with  their  system  of 
economy. 

Comparisons  are  odious  surely  as  between  the 
Chinese  and  any  other  nation.  It  is  the  old 
proposition  of  "  teaching  your  grandmother  to 
suck  eggs."  The  Chinese  have  no  idea  of  our 
standard  of  comfort.  We  wear  a  hat  in  all  sea- 
sons of  the  year.  They  ask  why  we  should  wear 
a  hat  any  more  in  summer  than  heavy  gloves. 
If  the  sun  is  too  hot  and  you  are  delicate,  there 
is  always  the  umbrella ;  if  it  is  too  cold,  there  is 
always  the  hood.  Ah  Choy,  the  consular  shroff, 
goes  down  to  the  Chinese  gold-shop  to  change 
our  gold  coin  into  silver,  in  the  heat  of  the  day. 


AH  CHOW  THE  CONSERVATIVE.      17 

The  thermometer  registers  100°.  I  do  not  believe 
he  feels  it,  but  if  the  sun  gets  in  his  old  eyes  he 
holds  up  his  fan.  His  poll  is  cleanly  shaven 
every  morning,  so  there  is  no  hair  to  protect  his 
shining  skull.  At  first  I  never  expected  to  see 
him  return  alive  from  one  of  these  expeditions. 
I  wear  a  cork  helmet  and  an  umbrella,  but  since, 
I  have  discovered  that  the  only  time  he  ever  pro- 
tects his  head  is  when  it  rains.  He  may  wear  a 
rimless  cap  in  the  office  or  house  to  do  some  one 
honor,  but  never  in  the  street.  After  thirty-five 
years'  association  with  the  Europeans  of  Hong 
Kong,  Ah  Choy  still  wears  cotton  clothes,  sleeps 
on  a  wooden  pillow,  eats  with  chop-sticks,  uses 
paper-soled  shoes,  and  continues  to  be  just  as 
uncomfortable  as  any  native  of  the  Sun  On  dis- 
trict who  has  never  been  in  an  English  colony, 
or  an  American  consulate.  It  is  this  absolute 
absence  of  any  standard  of  comparison  between 
the  Chinese  and  the  American  that  makes  it  im- 
possible to  hold  him  up  to  scorn.  When  the 
child  starts  in  life  wearing  a  pair  of  bifurcated 
bags  filled  with  sand  in  the  place  of  diapers,  one 
cannot  but  despair  of  ever  teaching  the  parents 
that  "  cleanliness  is  next  to  godliness "  in  their 
homes,  even  if  you  could  dismiss  for  the  time 
their  inherent  ideas  of  economy.     In  discussing 


18  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

the  economies  of  the  Chinese,  there  is  no  place 
where  you  can  stop.  After  eleven  years  of  ex- 
perience I  am  amazed  every  day  at  some  new 
example.  Nothing  is  lost.  Every  animal  is  eaten, 
regardless  of  the  cause  of  his  demise.  The  sar- 
dine and  fruit  cans  that  we  extravagantly  throw 
into  the  dump  are  born  again  as  tin  cups  and 
cooking  utensils.  The  weed  that  cannot  be  eaten 
is  used  as  fuel  to  cook  the  weed  that  may  be 
edible.  In  the  autumn  the  leaves  of  trees  are 
gathered  by  children  who  are  too  young  to  labor, 
and  pounded  into  bricks,  and  dried  for  their  winter 
fuel.  Even  the  exploded  firecrackers  that  are 
used  at  Chinese  New  Year  and  on  religious  festi- 
vals are  collected  for  the  same  purpose.  If  they 
burn  any  oil  at  night,  it  is  simply  a  taper  sus- 
pended in  a  tumbler  of  peanut-oil  and  water. 

It  may  be  put  down  as  an  axiom  that  there  are 
no  idle  people  in  China.  A  visitor  in  Canton  or 
Peking  may  be  struck  with  many  cases  of  coolies 
or  shopkeepers  sleeping  in  the  street  or  in  their 
stalls  regardless  of  the  deafening  babble  that  sur- 
rounds them.  It  is  not  idleness,  however ;  it  is  a 
habit,  that  is  responsible  for  much  of  the  endur- 
ance of  the  people. 

A  coolie  is  sent  with  a  load  of  soy  or  fish 
from  one  part  of  the  city  to  another.     He  may 


CHINESE   WITHOUT  " NERFES."      19 

have  been  twelve  hours  struggling  under  its  ex- 
cessive load  through  the  congested  alleys.  When 
he  arrives  at  his  destination,  and  his  burden  has 
to  be  weighed,  measured,  and  fought  over,  and 
haggled  for,  all  of  which  is  no  business  of  his, 
he  squats  in  an  unoccupied  space,  and  goes  im- 
mediately to  sleep.  It  may  be  for  ten  minutes, 
or  it  may  be  for  an  hour.  There  is  very  little 
difference  between  day  and  night  in  Canton. 
The  deep  hum  of  its  million  workers  never  ceases. 
The  Cliinese  sleep  when  they  have  nothing  else  to 
do ;  and  they  sleep  the  sleep  of  the  just  where  a 
well-bred  European  dog  would  not  be  able  to  get 
a  "  cat-nap."  They  can  sleep  or  work  in  any 
position,  and  keep  it  up  for  hours  at  a  time.  A 
nervous  Chinaman  I  have  never  seen,  and  an  ex- 
hibition of  "  nerves "  among  either  gender  is 
unknown.  He  is  never  known  to  take  exercise 
for  the  sake  of  exercise.  My  shroff,  or  cashier, 
Ah  Choy,  has  been  sitting,  bent  over  a  little  desk, 
for  thirty  years,  making  out  consular  invoices. 
He  handles  columns  of  figures,  running  up  into 
the  millions,  on  his  abacus,  making  the  most  deli- 
cate calculations,  while  a  jabbering,  pushing,  spit- 
ting mob  of  coolie  runners  from  the  big  hongs 
crowd  his  elbows.  He  works  calmly  on,  day  after 
day,  in  the  same  cramped  position,  on  the  same 


20  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

uncomfortable  bamboo  stool,  utterly  unconscious 
of  his  surroundings,  never  losing  his  temper,  and 
seldom  making  a  mistake.  I  know  he  never  took 
a  walk  for  any  purpose  other  than  to  save  chair- 
hire,  and  yet  in  the  four  years  of  my  term  of 
office  he  has  never  been  away  from  the  consulate 
for  a  day  on  acount  of  sickness.  Shortly  after  I 
arrived  a  wave  of  pity  went  over  me  for  Ah  Choy ; 
and  I  spoke  to  his  superior,  the  interpreter,  about 
his  cramped  position  and  long  hours  of  service ; 
suggested  that  the  Government  could  afford  a 
respectable  office-chair  and  that  the  consulate 
closed  officially  at  five  o'clock,  p.m.  I  even  inti- 
mated that  Ah  Choy  had  better  take  the  balance 
of  the  day  for  exercise  and  rest.  Interpreter 
Chinn  smiled,  and  promised  to  speak  to  Ah  Choy. 
Choy  thanked  me,  but  put  it  all  down  as  an  idio- 
sincrasy  of  his  new  chief.  This  ended  my  mis- 
sionary labors  in  my  own  office.  Why  should  he 
walk  when  the  Government  paid  for  two  coolies 
to  do  his  walking  for  him  ?  Why  should  he  take 
a  stated  hour  to  rest  when  he  could  sleep  at  odd 
minutes  with  his  head  cramped  down  sidewdse 
across  a  pile  of  invoices  in  a  position  that  would 
strangle  a  man  with  "  nerves."  It  is  the  absence 
of  nerves  that  enables  the  Chinese  to  endure  pain 
as  well  as  toil.     Every  missionary  doctor  or  hos- 


REASON  OF   TORTURES.  21 

pital  surgeon  who  has  worked  among  the  Chinese 
relates  incidents  of  operations  that  have  been  per- 
formed without  the  use  of  chloroform  that  are 
hardly  conceivable.  Yet  in  almost  every  case  the 
Chinaman  seemed  to  experience  little  pain,  and  to 
recover  almost  immediately.  No  nation  in  the 
world  has  invented  such  tortures  as  the  Chinesey 
Simple  punishment,  such  as  confinement  with  hard 
labor  diversified  with  twenty  strokes  of  the  bam- 
boo before  each  meal,  would  be  considered  a  kind- 
ness by  the  coolies  so  long  as  the  "  chow  "  or  food 
was  equal  to  the  poorest  of  our  prison  fares.  This 
absence  of  nerves  and  abUity  to  suffer  is  a  God- 
given  gift,  and  makes  the  Chinese  equal  to  an 
existence  that  would  blot  out  the  European  civili- 
zation in  two  generations.  One  cannot  but  won- 
der if,  in  the  struggle  for  the  possession  of  the 
earth  that  is  now  taking  place,  the  white  man 
of  "  nerves  "  may  not  in  the  end  go  down  before 
the  yellow  man  without  "  nerves." 

If  to  the  American  the  thought  that  there  is  no 
public  spirit,  no  love  of  country,  no  patriotism, 
among  the  Chinese  is  abhorrent,  what  must  the 
Chinaman,  the  follower  of  Confucius,  feel  when 
he  is  told  that  there  is  no  such  thing  as  filial  piety, 
as  defined  by  his  classics,  in  America  ?  It  is  little 
wonder  we  are  looked  upon  as  "  Barbarians  "  when 


22  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

the  Chinese  are  told  that,  when  our  sons  grow  up, 
they  leave  the  roof- tree,  go  out  into  the  world, 
marry,  have  families  without  consulting  any  one, 
go  to  distant  countries  without  the  parents'  con- 
sent, are  not  responsible  for  their  father's  debts  or 
deeds ;  their  wives  do  not  become  the  servants 
of  their  husband's  mother ;  that  there  is  no  three- 
year  term  of  mourning,  etc. ;  for  any  one  in  China 
can  tell  you  that,  "  of  the  hundred  virtues,  filial 
conduct  is  the  chief ;  that  a  defect  of  any  virtue 
when  traced  to  its  root  is  a  lack  of  filial  piety." 
Broadly  speaking,  filial  piety  takes  the  place  of 
patriotism.  The  worship  of  ancestors  calls  upon 
the  descendants  to  protect,  worship,  and  visit  the 
tombs  of  the  ancestors.  It  requires  that  the  par- 
ents should  be  served  while  they  live,  and  be  wor- 
shiped when  dead.  It  makes  sacred  any  soil  in 
which  the  dead  rests.  One  of  the  most  dangerous 
mobs  that  ever  occurred  in  Singapore,  while  I  was 
there,  was  caused  by  the  British  authorities  legis- 
lating to  remove  a  Chinese  burial-ground  for  mu- 
nicipal purposes.  The  government  was  to  do  it 
at  its  own  expense ;  but  this  did  not  meet  the  ob- 
jection, for  no  one  in  Singapore  knew  who  lay  in 
hundreds  of  the  graves.  A  son,  however,  in  Aus- 
tralia, Borneo,  or  America  knew;  and  when  he 
returned  in  one  year  or  three  to  worship  at  the 


FILIAL    PIETY.  23 

tomb  of  his  father,  or  possibly  to  convey  the  ashes 
to  his  ancestral  temple  in  Honam,  how  was  he  to 
identify  his  dead  among  the  hundreds  that  were 
removed  ?  His  "  face  "  would  be  lost,  his  luck 
gone,  his  ancestors  angry.  A  wealthy  Chinese 
merchant  from  Chicago,  who  spoke  English  and 
had  lived  since  1882  in  the  United  States,  came 
into  my  office  one  morning  to  see  if  I  could  aid 
him  to  get  his  father  out  of  prison  in  Wuchow. 
After  a  long  conversation  I  discovered  that  some 
returning  Chinaman  from  Chicago  had  boasted  to 
the  Wuchow  mandarin  of  the  wealth  of  his  old 
schoolfellow  in  Chicago.  The  mandarin  was  evi- 
dently envious;  so,  when  one  of  the  numerous 
clan  fights  occurred  in  which  several  onlookers 
were  killed,  he  ordered  that  the  father  and  brother 
of  the  Chicago  Chinaman  should  be  imprisoned  for 
complicity  in  the  murder.  They  were,  however, 
notified  that  on  the  payment  of  one  thousand  taels 
they  would  be  released.  My  informer  had  imme- 
diately sent  the  money  from  Chicago,  but  it  had 
had  no  other  effect  than  a  summons  from  the 
mandarin  to  appear  before  him  to  answer  the 
charge  of  having  incited  the  murder.  He  dared 
neither  refuse  the  summons  nor  appear  in  the  man- 
darin's Yamen.  In  the  first  instance  all  his  family 
would  be  executed,  and  he  would  not  be  permitted 


24  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR, 

to  worship,  or  to  have  his  body  deposited  in  the 
ancestral  temple ;  and  in  the  second  instance  he 
was  perfectly  sure  he  would  never  be  allowed  to 
leave  the  Yamen  until  he  had  been  "  squeezed  " 
of  every  cash,  and  then  the  chances  were  tliat  his 
sacrifices  would  avail  him  little.  This  case  is  but 
a  sample  one  of  dozens  that  have  come  under  my 
observation,  and  is  a  fair  example  of  the  tremen- 
dous hold  that  Chinese  officialdom  has  upon  the 
people  through  this  mistaken  idea  of  filial  piety. 
For  three  thousand  years  of  Chinese  history  offi- 
cials were  supposed  to  be  promoted  in  government 
service  for  their  filial  piety  and  the  purity  of  their 
characters.  Mencius  ruled  that  "  There  are  three 
things  which  are  unfilial,  and  to  have  no  posterity 
is  the  greatest  of  them."  Hence  the  custom  of 
child  marriages  comes  naturally,  and  is  followed 
by  the  custom  of  divorce  and  concubinage  when  a 
wife  fails  to  present  her  husband  with  a  son.  A 
discharged  sailor  of  Dewey's  flagship  was  married 
in  my  presence  to  a  comely  Chinese  girl.  He  left 
her  a  few  months  later,  and  the  young  wife  came 
to  me  with  her  sad  tale.  She  kept  mentioning 
her  children,  and  asking  how  she  was  to  provide 
for  them,  as  they  were  large  enough  to  go  to 
school.  At  last  it  occurred  to  me  that  it  was 
strange   that   she  should  be  the  mother  of   full- 


THE  WORSHIP   OF  ANCESTORS.      25 

grown  children,  and  I  asked  her  if  she  had  been 
married  before.  She  replied  quite  unconcernedly 
in  the  negative.  In  my  position  of  father  confessor 
I  inquired  "  How  you  catchy  children?"  She  an- 
swered, "  My  buy  two  piecy  boy  long  time."  It 
seemed  that  the  girl  had  not  married  until  she 
was  twenty  years  of  age.  Having  practically 
given  up  all  hope  of  marriage,  she  had  bought  two 
baby  boys  and  adopted  them,  as  she  naively  ex- 
plained :  "  No  got  son,  how  can  get  chow  when 
my  get  old."  The  boys  were  her  insurance  policy 
for  this  life  and  her  hold  on  the  next,  for  she  was 
preserving  the  line  of  her  ancestors.  She,  like 
thousands  of  others,  had  no  particular  means  with 
which  to  provide  for  the  babies  when  she  adopted 
them,  and  now  she  had  still  less ;  yet  some  how  she 
would  struggle  along  until  her  boys  are  grown, 
and  then  the  heaviest  yoke  in  China  would  fall  on 
their  shoulders,  and  they  would  have  to  take  up 
the  burden  of  filial  piety  in  all  its  ramifications. 
The  worship  of  ancestors  is  the  true  religion  of 
China,  and  is  to  a  greater  extent  responsible  for 
the  uninterrupted  progress  of  China's  national 
life  than  any  other  one  thing.  It  chains  the  gene- 
rations of  to-day  to  the  generations  of  the  Shun 
dynasty.  It  creates  a  fatherland  of  tombs  that 
never  releases  its  sons,  and  calls  them  from  New 


26  CHINA'S    OPEN    DOOR. 

York,  Rio  de  Janeiro,  Paris,  and  from  my  servants' 
quarters  in  Hong  Kong,  to  render  the  same  obei- 
sance to  the  shade  of  the  dead  as  the  worshiper 
expects  from  his  son  when  his  bones  rest  in  the 
ancestral  temple. 

The  famous  general,  Chau  Pau,  was  sent  by 
the  Emperor  Ling  Ti,  in  A.  d.  177,  to  reduce  the 
fierce  Sienpi.  On  the  march  his  mother  was 
seized ;  and  when  the  two  armies  confronted  each 
other,  the  Sienpi  placed  the  old  lady  in  the  front 
rank,  and  threatened  to  murder  her  unless  the  son 
submitted.  Chau  Pau  had  to  chose  between  his 
emperor  and  country  and  his  mother.  His  loyalty 
to  the  emperor  prevailed,  and  his  mother  was  bar- 
barously murdered  before  his  very  eyes.  Chau 
Pau  won  the  battle  that  followed,  but  he  had  lost 
all  hope  of  happiness  in  the  next  world.  He  died 
shortly  afterwards  of  grief  and  horror  at  his  posi- 
tion, saying  "  If  I  had  betrayed  my  country,  I 
should  have  been  disloyal.  I  have  been  the  cause, 
however,  of  my  mother's  death,  and  so  I  have 
been  unfilial.  I  bartered  my  soul  for  the  applause 
of  my  king."  Nearly  seven  hundred  years  later, 
during  the  Tang  dynasty,  a  man  was  tried  for  the 
murder  of  a  man  who  had  killed  his  father.  The 
judge  decided :  "  If  we  put  him  to  death,  there  is 
the  danger  that  we  shall  do  a  grievous  injury  to  the 


CONSERVATISM  INGRAINED.  27 

filial  sentiment  in  men,  and  deter  them  from  doing 
any  thing  to  avenge  the  wrongs  done  to  their 
parents.  On  the  other  hand,  if  he  is  not  punished, 
we  shall  encourage  violent  acts  in  the  community, 
and  men  will  be  taking  the  law  into  their  own 
hands,  and  filling  society  with  bloodshed."  The 
case  was  compromised  by  the  filial  murderer's 
banishment,  and  thus  the  teachings  of  the  Con- 
fucian classics  were  reconciled  to  the  laws  of  the 
land. 

The  Chinese  may  be  styled  a  religious  people. 
In  a  large  way  they  recognize  a  supreme  being ; 
but,  as  has  been  said,  ancestral  worship  has  blotted 
out  the  face  of  God,  and  made  gods  of  dead  rela- 
tives. 

We  use  the  term  conservative  and  conservatism 
in  America,  but  until  you  live  in  China  they  have 
no  real  significance.  Chinese  conservatism  means 
that  everything  is  done  by  rule,  and  in  most  in- 
stances the  rule  is  from  two  thousand  to  six  thou- 
sand years  old ;  hence  it  is  hallowed  by  age  and 
association.  You  will  not  be  long  in  China  before 
you  discover  that  your  ways  and  the  ways  of 
China  do  not  run  along  parallel  lines.  On  the 
first  day  of  November  all  your  servants  go  from 
white  into  blue  clothes.  Ask  the  reason,  and  you 
are  informed  that  cold  weather  has  come,  although 


28  CHINA'S    OPEN   BOOR. 

the  thermometer  may  stand  85°  in  the  shade,  or  it 
may  be  that  it  has  been  cold  enough  for  grate-fires 
for  ten  days.  On  the  first  of  May  the  blue  is  dis- 
carded for  white,  and  hot  weather  has  arrived  in 
spite  of  your  own  winter  clothes.  The  head  of 
the  house  offered  our  laundryman  fifty  cents  a 
month  extra  if  he  would  sprinkle  her  clothes  with 
his  hands  instead  of  with  his  mouth.  He  ac- 
cepted the  fifty  cents  gladly,  but  continued  his 
good  old  ways.  An  offer  of  one  dollar  a  month 
had  no  better  effect.  Since  the  Spanish- American 
War  American  mercantile  firms  have  sent  out 
their  agents  to  try  and  capture  a  portion  of  the 
presumably  large  trade  of  China.  The  Chinese 
merchants  received  them  politely,  and  gave  them 
permission  to  consign  any  and  all  goods  they 
wished  to  on  commission.  It  made  no  difference 
whether  the  goods  were  steam-engines  or  curling- 
irons  ;  they  would  be  received  if  the  freight  were 
prepaid,  but  as  for  actually  buying  the  things,  or 
helping  to  inti'oduce  any  new  American  product 
or  invention,  that  was  not  to  be  thought  of.  It 
was  not  long  before  the  ambitious  American 
exporter  discovered  that  he  must  either  open 
his  own  agency,  or  give  up  all  hopes  of  entering 
the  field.  Chinese  conservatism  they  found  was 
an   unsurmoun table    barrier.      The    literary  man 


CONSERVATISM  IN  LITERATURE.  29 

ranks  all  other  professions  in  China ;  but,  unlike 
our  literary  men,  he  is  very  seldom  a  producer  of 
original  literature.  He  is  merely  a  student  of  the 
classics.  Conservatism  in  hterature  is  even  more 
pronounced  than  in  trade.  The  writings  of  Con- 
fucius and  Mencius,  commentaries  on  them,  the 
book  of  historical  documents,  the  "  Shoo  King,"  or 
"  Book  of  History,"  are  the  same  to-day  as  they 
were  five  hundred  years  before  Christ,  when  Con- 
fucius made  them  to  please  his  own  fancy.  They 
comprise  the  curriculum  of  the  universities,  and 
the  winner  of  the  Bachelor  of  Arts  Degree  at  the 
time  of  Christ  would  still  be  able  to  earn  his 
degree  at  the  triennial  examinations  at  Canton  or 
Peking  to-day.  Yet  one  has  no  right  to  laugh  at 
a  conservatism  in  literature  that  has  moulded  a 
race  and  built  up  a  system  of  government  that 
has  lived  to  see  the  civilization  of  Egypt,  Greece, 
and  Rome  decay.  You  never  hear  of  a  "lost 
art "  in  China.  It  took  a  complete  overturning  of 
China,  and  changed  the  dynasty,  to  introduce  the 
queue,  and  it  will  take  a  revolution  and  a  change 
of  dynasty  to  abolish  it.  The  American  firm  that 
wrote  me  they  were  sending  out  a  representa- 
tive "  to  introduce  their  superior  table  cutlery  *' 
did  not  realize  that  their  representative  should  be 
accompanied  by  a  line  of  battle-ships  and  an  army 


30  CHINA'S    OPEN    DOOR. 

of  invasion.  When  the  knife  and  fork  supplant 
the  chopsticks,  a  new  dynasty  will  sit  on  the 
dragon  throne,  and  China  will  have  entered  upon 
a  new  chapter  of  its  history.  Mahomet  miglit 
have  made  Mahommedanism  the  state  religion  of 
China  with  the  aid  of  the  cimeter,  but  once  es- 
tablished it  would  require  the  modem  missionary 
with  a  maxim  gun  to  displace  it.  Christ  has 
commanded  that  we  shall  go  forth  to  preach  his 
gospel  to  all  the  world.  The  Christian  mission- 
ary in  China  has  to  fight  with  Chinese  conserva- 
tism rather  than  Chinese  infidelism  or  paganism. 
Buddhism  came  to  China  by  royal  invitation,  and 
soon  made  a  place  for  itself  by  the  side  of  Taoism; 
and  the  two  religions  ran  along  side  by  side 
on  the  most  friendly  terms.  The  Chinaman  is 
entirely  impartial  in  his  choice  of  religions.  If 
his  prayers  are  not  answered  in  the  Buddhist 
temple  he  will  simply  step  across  the  street  and 
burn  twice  as  many  joss-sticks  and  paper  prayers 
in  a  taoist.  With  all  their  superstition,  their  run- 
ning after  strange  gods  and  ancestral  worship,  the 
Chinese  believe  in  a  Supreme  Being,  and  their 
history  from  mythical  and  legendary  periods  is 
filled  with  noble  examples  of  self-sacrifice  and 
religious  fervor,  many  of  which  parallel  the  acts 
of  the   Old  Testament  kings.     Tang,  who  ruled 


EXAMPLES   OF  SELF-SACRIFICE.    31 

1776  years  B.C.,  delivered  his  nation  from  a  most 
grievous  drought  by  offering  himself  as  a  sacrifice 
to  the  Supreme  Being  if  his  people  might  be 
saved.  After  praying  all  night  in  a  mulberry 
grove  his  faith  was  rewarded,  and  a  copious  rain 
fell  for  hundreds  of  miles  over  the  dying  country. 
In  memory  of  God's  goodness  he  composed,  like 
the  old  Israelite  kings,  an  ode  of  thanksgiving, 
which  is  known  as  "  The  Great  Salvation."  The 
Emperor  Kung  (b.  c.  1401-1373)  removed  his 
entire  capital  from  Kingtai  in  Chili  li  to  Yin, 
a  town  north  of  the  Yellow  River  in  Honam, 
because  the  country  was  not  prospering,  and 
righteousness  was  declining,  and  he  wished  to 
commence  over  again,  and  seek  purity  on  virgin 
soil.  Wu  Yih,  the  emperor  who  first  introduced 
idols  as  well  as  the  worship  of  mountains  and 
streams,  was  struck  dead  by  a  shaft  of  hghtning 
while  hunting ;  and  all  historians  agree  that  it  was 
a  just  punishment  by  Heaven.  The  introduction 
of  western  medicine,  in  spite  of  its  abihty  to 
recommend  itself  by  cures  which  to  the  Chinese 
looked  like  miracles,  finds  itself  defeated  by 
this  selfsame  hide-bound  conservatism.  In  Hong 
Kong  the  enlightened  Chinese  merchants  have 
established  a  hospital  in  which  the  patients  can 
choose  between  Chinese  and  Western  science,  and 


32  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR, 

be  treated  by  either  free  of  expense.  Yet  not  five 
per  cent  of  the  inmates  will  permit  an  English 
doctor  to  treat  them,  even  after  the  Chinese  doctor 
has  given  them  up.  Sir  Henry  Blake,  the  gov- 
ernor of  this  colony,  said  in  November,  1899,  at 
the  laying  of  the  foundation  stone  of  the  woman's 
ward :  "  The  record  of  the  Tung  Wah  Hospital 
shows  that  the  proportion  of  cures  effected  by 
western  methods  over  Chinese  is  fifty  per  cent." 

My  "  Number  One  Boy  "  was  looking  very  sad 
one  morning  as  he  served  our  breakfast.  The 
mistress  asked  him  if  he  were  sick.  "No,"  he 
replied  in  Pidgin  English,  "  my  wife  he  die  two 
hours."  By  further  questioning,  we  found  that 
the  Chinese  doctor  had  given  his  wife  up,  and 
that  he  was  expecting  every  moment  to  be  notified 
of  her  death.  The  consular  surgeon  went  imme- 
diately to  the  bedside  of  the  dying  woman,  and 
found  that  she  was  suffering  from  a  simple  stric- 
ture of  the  bladder,  and  that  the  Chinese  M.D. 
had  been  dosing  her  with  Ginsing  tea  and  other 
nostrums  that  were  only  hastening  the  end.  An 
ordinary  surgical  operation  relieved  her,  and  in  a 
few  days  she  was  as  well  as  ever.  We  congratu- 
lated ourselves  that  we  had  at  last  made  one  con- 
vert to  Western  science,  as  the  "  boy  "  was  most 
grateful  and  complimentary.     A  few  months  later 


NEVER   CHANGING  FASHIONS.        33 

the  same  boy  announced  that  his  baby,  a  dear 
little  tot,  was  about  to  die,  and  that  the  Chinese 
doctor  had  given  it  up.  We  were  disgusted,  and 
told  the  boy  what  we  thought,  —  among  other 
things,  declaring  that  he  was  little  better  than  a 
murderer.  The  child  was  not  too  far  gone  to  be 
saved  by  earthly  aid,  and  the  education  of  science 
triumphed  again. 

The  fashion  in  mandarm's  clothes  and  insignia 
was  introduced  by  Topa  in  a.d.  404,  and  the 
fashion  has  never  changed.  King  Topa  might 
imagine  himself  in  his  own  court  should  he  return 
to-day.  The  civil  mandarin  of  the  first  rank  is 
known  now,  as  then,  by  the  square  embroidered 
patch  on  the  back  and  front  of  his  robe,  bearing 
the  cunningly  worked  figure  of  a  Manchurian 
crane,  and  by  the  red  coral  knob  on  tlie  top  of  his 
cap;  the  military  mandarin  by  the  unicorn  and 
coral  knob,  and  so  on  down  to  the  tenth  or  lowest 
mandarin  rank.  The  fashion  in  the  clothes  of 
the  now  dominant  Anglo-Saxon  race  has  somewhat 
modified  since  404,  as  has  its  religion  and  its  social 
ceremonial  1 

An  American  going  to  France  studies  and 
strives  to  master  French  rules  of  ceremony  and 
politeness.  He  may  not  approve  of  or  see  the 
sense  in  all  that  is  required  of  him ;  but  when  he 


34  CHINA'S    OPEN   DOOR. 

is  amoog  Romans,  if  he  has  common  sense,  he 
strives  to  do  as  the  Romans  do.  A  foreigner, 
however,  never  takes  the  trouble  to  acquaint  him- 
self with  Chinese  social  procedure.  It  is  not 
necessary  or  possible  to  know  the  three  hundred 
rules  of  ceremony  or  the  three  thousand  rules  of 
behavior  that  are  laid  down  in  the  classics ;  but 
a  few  general  principles  would  save  us  from  much 
of  the  scorn  that  is  attached  to  the  term  "  bar- 
barian," and  go  far  toward  lubricating  the  hinges  of 
the  "  open  door."  The  punctilio  of  the  Spaniard 
is  yet  in  its  childhood  as  compared  to  the  code  of 
hoary  China.  Every  act  of  daily  life  is  governed 
by  well-established  forms.  I  fear  that  there  is  little 
sincerity  or  heart  in  many  of  them;  but  at  the 
same  time,  when  the  Spaniard  tells  you  that  his 
house,  and  all  that  it  contains,  is  yours,  it  never 
occurs  to  you  to  actually  dispossess  him.  A 
Chinese  merchant  comes  to  the  consulate  to  ask 
for  information,  and  brings  you  a  box  of  cigars 
as  a  present  or  as  an  acknowledgment  of  the 
trouble  he  has  placed  you  to.  The  cigars  are 
Manilas,  of  the  cheapest  quality.  He  is  per- 
fectly aware  that  you  will  never  smoke  one  of 
them ;  he  would  not  himself ;  but  he  expects  you 
to  accept  them.  You  had  no  right  to  expect 
anything,  as  what  you  did  was  part  of  your  day's 


DEFECT  OF  CHINESE  CHARACTER.  35 

work;  but  he  has  done  the  polite  thing,  and  re- 
lieved himself  of  all  obligations  to  you.  At  a 
wedding  the  friends  of  the  groom  will  send  bas- 
kets of  impossible  cakes  or  the  smallest  dried 
ducks,  or  half  of  a  pig  that  has  died  of  disease. 
The  recipient  is  bound  by  all  the  ceremonials  of 
polite  behavior  to  accept  them  and  look  grateful, 
but  both  parties  know  that  the  gifts  will  be  thrown 
to  the  beggars  as  soon  as  the  groom  has  taken 
the  bride  to  his  home.  When  calling  upon  a 
Chinese  mandarin,  it  is  your  fault  if  you  do  not 
know  that  it  is  time  to  go  when  the  tea  is  handed 
round.  If  you  are  not  aware  that  it  is  a  mark  of 
disrespect  for  your  servants  to  come  into  your 
presence  with  their  queues  twisted  about  their 
heads,  so  much  the  worse  for  you. 

A  Chinaman  is  intensely  curious,  but  at  the 
same  time  he  "  minds  his  own  business."  In  Amer- 
ica, minding  one's  business  is  considered  a  virtue ; 
but  in  China  it  is  one  of  the  defects  of  the 
Chinese  character,  personal  and  national.  The 
Chinaman  is  absolutely  lacking  in  sympathy, 
charity,  and  is  utterly  indifferent  as  to  the  fate 
of  his  neighbor,  the  neighboring  city,  or  any- 
thing in  the  body  politic  that  does  not  actually 
touch  him.  The  history  of  China  is  filled  with 
examples  of    disasters,   brought   on   by  this    un- 


36  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

sympathetic  system  of  minding  one's  own  busi- 
ness. It  has  made  every  rebellion  possible,  and 
been  a  great  factor  in  the  overthrow  of  dynasties. 
It  encourages  piracy,  and  protects  dishonest  offi- 
cials. What  is  somebody's  business  is  nobody's. 
A  general  raises  the  standard  of  revolt  and  cap- 
tures a  city.  A  city  ten  miles  removed  looks  on 
with  absolute  indifference  to  the  horrors  of  the  oc- 
cupation, knowing  full  well  that  its  turn  will  come 
next,  and  also  that  if  the  two  cities  had  united 
their  forces  they  could  have  put  down  the  rebels. 
With  his  reenforcements  the  victor  moves  on  the 
next  city  in  his  way,  and  so  on  until  he  is  master 
of  an  entire  province.  The  adjoining  province 
minds  its  own  business ;  and  when  the  rebel  has 
perfected  all  his  plans,  he  marches  into  it,  and  re- 
duces it  city  by  city.  It  is  not  until  his  power 
has  become  formidable  that  the  throne  deigns  to 
notice  him ;  and  then,  if  he  cannot  be  bought  off 
with  a  dukedom  or  secretly  assassinated,  a  battle 
is  fought  that  generally  decides  in  one  day  the 
fate  of  the  dynasty.  The  Taiping  rebellion  could 
have  been  crushed  in  its  infancy,  had  it  been 
any  one's  business  to  have  done  so.  When  the 
Chinese  fleet  surrendered  to  the  Japanese  after 
the  battle  of  Yalu,  one  of  the  Chinese  men-of- 
war  asked  to  be  exempted  from  the  surrender  as 


"MINDING   ONES  BUSINESS."  37 

it  belonged  to  the  Southern  division,  and  was  in 
the  fight  by  mistake,  which  was  literally  none  of 
its  business.  A  Chinaman  snatched  the  watch  of 
a  Portuguese  in  Glenealy  Road,  two  minutes'  walk 
from  the  consular  building.  There  were  dozens 
of  coolies  passing  at  the  time ;  but  no  one  inter- 
fered, and  the  thief  paid  no  more  attention  to 
them  than  if  they  were  wooden  images.  The 
victim  heard  one  of  the  onlookers  remark  as  he 
was  passing,  "  That  was  a  bold  thing  to  do !  "  In 
crossing  the  Johore  Straits  I  saw  a  sampan  upset, 
and  the  occupant,  who  could  not  swim,  slowly 
drown  in  the  presence  of  a  half-dozen  passing 
sampans.  Of  course  there  are  always  other  rea- 
sons than  that  of  "  minding  one's  business." 
Chinese  reasons  are  many,  and  not  always  clear 
to  the  Occidental.  The  rescuer  might  have  been 
interfering  with  fate,  or  the  man  might  have 
wanted  to  die,  and  the  rescuer  would  have  become 
responsible  for  his  support  during  the  rest  of  his 
natural  life. 

The  struggle  for  existence  is  too  intense,  too 
real,  for  one  man  to  devote  any  time  or  sympathy 
to  the  business  or  sorrows  of  another.  From  the 
throne  to  the  hovel  it  is  always  a  question  of  the 
survival  of  the  fittest.  The  weak  perish,  and  do 
so  resignedly.    It  is  fate.    Outside  of  the  imperial 


38  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

circle,  there  is  no  such  thing  as  politics  in  the 
empire.  The  voice  of  the  people  is  nothing, 
simply  because  the  people  will  not  raise  their 
voice.  They  are  in  a  sense  as  cruel  to  themselves 
as  they  are  to  one  another.  The  triennial  exam- 
inations at  Canton  are  public  exhibitions  of  the  en- 
durance, conservatism,  and  cruelty  of  the  Chinese 
to  themselves.  Boys  twenty  years  of  age  and  old 
men  of  ninety  are  huddled  together  in  a  thousand 
stone  cells  or  stalls  not  fit  for  a  cow,  eating,  sleep- 
ing, or  working  on  cold  or  hot,  wet  or  burning 
stones  as  the  case  may  be,  cramped  and  uncom- 
fortable, taxing  their  mental  and  physical  endu- 
rance to  the  breaking  limit ;  coming  out  haggard, 
disheveled,  many  prostrated,  and  some  as  corpses, 
a  pitiful  expose  of  the  lack  of  human  kindness 
in  their  characters.  The  "  prize-man  "  may  later 
become  viceroy  of  Canton,  but  he  does  nothing  to 
better  the  condition  of  the  examination  hall.  He 
suffered,  let  others  do  the  same.  This  cruel  in- 
difference on  the  other  hand  has  been  of  the 
greatest  protection  to  travelers  and  missionaries 
in  China.  As  a  general  proposition,  the  mission- 
aries have  been  left  too  much  to  themselves  by 
the  surrounding  population  to  make  success  in 
their  profession  possible.  Missionaries  have  been 
massacred  and  missions  burned,  but  nine  times 


LACK   OF  SYMPATHY.  39 

out  of  ten  it  has  been  on  account  of  some  form 
of  insane  fear  rather  than  from  pure  cruelty. 
The  Chinese  have  been  told  that  missionaries  eat 
children  or  dissect  them,  or  that  their  presence  is 
responsible  for  a  flood,  a  famine,  or  a  plague.  In 
California  I  have  seen  all  the  Chinese  driven  out 
of  a  town  by  a  civilized  mob,  because  they  worked 
cheaper  and  lived  cheaper  than  the  members  of 
the  mob.  White  men  are  never  stoned  or  de- 
ported in  China  for  commercial  reasons.  Last 
year  the  viceroy  of  the  Two  Kwangs  forbade  the 
importation  of  kerosene-oil  in  the  West  River 
district,  and  for  a  time  killed  the  industry.  The 
crops  failed  that  year,  and  the  farmers  believed 
that  the  soil  had  been  poisoned  by  the  spilling  of 
the  new  barbarian  oil  on  the  ground.  The  entire 
population  went  back  to  the  use  of  peanut-oil ; 
but  they  soon  realized  the  difference  by  compari- 
son, and  now  kerosene-oil  has  obtained  a  foot- 
hold from  which  it  can  never  be  dislodged. 

The  Chinese  have  a  remarkable  sense  of  humor, 
even  if  it  takes  a  cruel  form.  Ask  a  Chinaman 
the  best  of  two  roads  to  a  town  and  he  will 
invariably  recommend  the  worst  and  longest,  and 
consider  it  a  good  joke.  A  workman  falls  from 
a  bamboo  scaffold  and  breaks  his  leg.  Immedi- 
ately every  other  workman  will  stop  and  laugh, 


40  CHINA'S  OPEN  DOOR. 

as  though  it  were  the  best  joke  of  the  season. 
Lieutenant  Kirkpatrick  Brice,  who  was  of  Gen- 
eral Parsons's  party  in  surveying  the  hne  of  the 
Canton-Hankow  Railway,  told  me  that  when  they 
stopped  at  a  village  at  night  the  natives  gath- 
ered round  by  the  hundred  interfering  with  their 
work  and  movements ;  they  soon  found  that  it 
was  dangerous  to  try  to  drive  them  back,  but, 
instead,  one  of  their  party  would  suddenly  seize 
upon  one  of  the  villagers,  arid  pitch  him  into 
a  mud-hole  or  a  stream.  This  would  cause  a 
tremendous  laugh,  and  afterwards  every  one  was 
good-natured.  A  deformed  Chinaman  is  the  sub- 
ject of  endless  jokes  and  ceaseless  mirth.  The 
colliding  of  two  Chinese  rickshaws  is  a  standing 
joke  in  the  Treaty  Ports ;  while  a  hawker  being 
led  to  jail  by  his  queue  becomes  a  target  for  all 
the  wits  along  the  entire  route.  The  lamenta- 
tions of  Jeremiah  would  have  been  impossible  in 
China.  They  would  have  been  preserved  as  an 
example,  by  some  humorous  Confucius,  of  his 
nation's  superior  method  of  ridiculing  someone 
else's  misery. 

To  one  who  has  lived  in  China  for  ten  years 
or  more  there  is  practically  no  hmit  to  an  article 
dealing  with  the  character  of  the  Chinese.  One 
thought  suggests  another  until  the  entire  book  is 


CHINESE  PECULIARITIES.  41 

too  short  to  chronicle  what  one  sees  around  him 
from  day  to  day.  Whoever  attempts  to  write 
a  chapter  on  Chinese  peculiarities  can  feel  per- 
fectly certain  that  it  will  be  skipped  by  the 
old  residents  of  China,  with  the  comment  that  it 
is  superficial ;  and  the  writer's  only  hope  is  that 
this  brief  essay  will,  in  some  measure,  form  as  an 
introduction  of  China  to  a  nation  that  is  rapidly 
becoming  one  of  the  great  factors  in  international 
diplomacy. 


42  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 


III. 

FROM    FUH-HI    TO    CONFUCIUS. 

[2852  B.C.  TO  478  B.C.] 

THERE  is  an  indefiniteness  regarding  the 
first  thousand  years  of  Chinese  history 
that  I  fear  has  proven  a  temptation 
that  most  tellers  of  China's  story  could  not  resist. 
Even  the  exemplary  Confucius  was  unable  to 
withstand  the  opportunity  to  create  out  of  this 
legendary  period  a  few  chapters  from  which  he 
could  point  a  moral  and  adorn  a  tale.  The 
Chinese  historical  writers  knew  the  full  value  of 
having  their  "novel"  open  so  as  to  catch  the 
pubhc  attention.  The  emperors,  Yau  and  Shun, 
who  reigned  from  B.C.  2356-2205  are  as  familiar 
personages  in  the  daily  conversation  of  every 
Chinese  school-boy  as  are  Washington  and  Lincoln 
in  that  of  the  Americans.  Their  deeds  and  lives 
stand  out  as  shining  examples  to  emperors  and 
peasants.  They  were  blessed  with  every  virtue, 
and  were  credited  with  the  highest  administrative 
abilities.     They  "  never  told  a  lie,"  and  as  far  as 


THE  FOUNDERS   OF   CHINA.  43 

we  know  they  never  made  a  mistake.  They  may 
be  considered  historically  the  founders  of  the 
Empire  of  China,  as  they  are  so  accepted  by 
Chinese  historians.  Yet  outside  of  the  mere  fact 
that  these  two  worthies  actually  lived  and  ruled 
wisely,  they  are  both  the  clever  creations  of  Con- 
fucius and  his  distinguished  disciple  Mencius. 
Confucius  was  a  worshiper  of  ancestors  ;  and  as 
long  as  he  had  the  opportunity  of  fitting  out  his 
nation  with  ancestors,  it  is  certainly  commendable 
that  he  gave  them  such  respectable  ones.  In 
doing  so  he  also  gave  his  people  a  "  Golden  Age," 
and  quite  properly  placed  it  so  far  back  that  no 
one  outside  of  China  could  dispute  it,  and  no  one 
in  China  would  dare. 

Following  in  the  footsteps  of  Confucius,  I  think 
it  only  fair  to  start  the  sons  of  Shem  from  the 
rich  basin  of  the  Euphrates,  the  mother  of  all 
races,  and  allow  them  to  gradually  work  northeast 
to  the  richer  basin  of  the  Yellow  River.  Like  the 
Chaldeans  and  the  Israelites  they  were  a  pastoral 
people ;  but  as  they  found  the  country  preempted 
by  "  squatters  "  of  other  races,  which  necessitated 
fierce  wars,  they  were  soon  forced  to  cultivate  the 
.  soil ;  and  three  thousand  years  before  Christ  we 
find  records  of  the  weaving  of  garments  from  flax, 
the  planting  of  mulberry-trees,  and  the  establish- 


44  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

ment  of  fairs  where  the  farmers  could  congregate 
and  barter. 

The  j)eriod  which  barbarian  historians  have  pro- 
fanely styled  the  mythical  commenced  with  the 
hewing  out  of  the  earth  and  the  heavens  by  the 
hard-working,  but  very  homely  god,  Pan-ku.  He 
is  tlie  hero  of  the  Chinese  cosmogony;  and  his 
statue,  which  is  to  be  found  in  every  Chinese 
home,  represents  him  with  an  ax  in  one  hand  and 
a  chisel  in  the  other  striking  at  the  dome  above. 
Three  dynasties  followed,  each  reigning  for  eighteen 
thousand  years,  and  each  of  these  labored  to  de- 
velop Pan-ku's  masterpiece  and  make  it  habitable. 

Contemporaneous  history  of  China  commences 
with  the  reign  of  Fuh-hi,  2852  B.C.  Thereafter 
the  kings  were  men,  and  the  mythical  developed 
into  the  legendary.  The  fables  of  this  early  period 
are  not  as  cleverly  pictured  as  those  of  corre- 
sponding periods  in  Egyptian,  Greek,  or  Roman 
history,  but  they  are  characteristically  as  interest- 
ing, and  in  many  particulars  strangely  similar. 
Fuh-hi  instituted  the  laws  of  marriage,  taught  men 
how  to  fish  with  nets  and  to  rear  domestic  animals. 
He  invented  the  lute  and  the  lyre  that  his  people 
might  be  charmed  with  music,  and  so  enabled  them 
to  bear  more  cheerfully  the  burdens  of  life.  He 
established  family  names,  and  devised  the  system  of 


THE   GREAT  YU.  45 

writing  by  Chinese  characters.  His  modesty  for- 
bade him  to  claim  any  credit  for  these  beneficial 
inventions,  and  he  gave  full  glory  for  them  to  a 
dragon-horse  that  came  from  out  the  Yellow  River 
bearing  a  scroll  on  its  back.  Hence  to  this  day 
the  imperial  insignia  is  the  dragon,  and  the  im- 
perial throne  is  known  as  the  "  dragon  throne." 

It  is  pleasant  to  linger  over  the  records  of  the 
kings  that  succeeded  Fuh-hi,  as  the  good  they  did 
has  lived  after  them,  and  the  evil  has  been  buried 
in  their  tombs.  They  worked  singly  for  the  up- 
building of  their  people,  and  whatever  evil  acts  are 
recorded  of  them  serve  only  the  more  vividly  to 
bring  out  the  disinterestedness  of  their  lives.  Dur- 
ing the  reign  of  the  Great  Yu  (B.C.  2205-2197) 
occurred  the  tremendous  overflow  of  China's  sor- 
row, the  Yellow  River,  of  which  Yu  recorded  "how 
destructive  are  the  waters  of  the  inundation.  They 
envelop  the  mountains,  and  rise  higher  than  the 
hills,  and  they  threaten  the  very  heavens,  so  the 
people  complain."  This  is  a  description  which 
the  vast  stream  has  lived  up  to  ever  since.  The 
discovery  of  the  manufacture  of  wines  caused  this 
old  sage  to  remark  after  he  recovered  from  the 
effects  of  his  first  spree  :  "  The  days  will  come 
when  some  of  my  successors  through  drinking  this 
will  cause  infinite  sorrow  to  the  nation."     Where- 


46  CHINA'S    OPEN   DOOR. 

upon  he  promptly  banished  the  unfortunate  discov- 
erer from  the  country  as  a  dangerous  character. 

Whether  it  was  the  too  frequent  use  of  this  new- 
found drink,  or  simply  despair  of  ever  being  able 
to  hve  up  to  the  high  standard  set  by  Yu,  it  is 
sufficient  to  know  that  his  sixteen  successors 
degenerated  with  mathematical  precision.  Had 
the  succession  to  the  throne  remained  as  before  the 
death  of  Yu,  a  reward  to  the  most  distinguished 
and  best  quahfied  man,  without  regard  to  rank  or 
family,  it  is  possible  that  the  dynasty  of  Hsai 
would  stUl  be  on  the  dragon  throne.  As  Yau 
chose  Shun,  one  of  the  people,  to  succeed  him,  so 
Yu  desired  that  his  place  be  taken  by  Yih,  a  man 
of  vast  ability  and  probity ;  but  the  feudal  princes 
voted  to  place  Ki,  the  son  of  Yu,  on  the  throne, 
and  the  hereditary  principle  was  established. 

In  spite  of  the  cruelty  and  debauchery  of  Yu's 
successors  the  people  did  not  rebel.  It  remained, 
however,  for  a  woman,  Meihi,  wife  of  the  Emperor 
Kwei  (B.C.  1818-1766),  to  pile  on  the  straw  that 
broke  the  camel's  back.  Meihi,  the  peerless,  was 
the  daughter  of  the  chief  of  Shih.  Her  beauty  was 
of  the  queenly  type  that  conquered  men's  minds 
and  their  passions  also.  She  seldom  smiled,  but 
when  she  did  it  was  with  a  purpose  ;  and  no  man 
could   stand   before    the    longing    that   possessed 


MEIHI,    THE  PEERLESS,  47 

him.  The  soldier  was  ready  to  die  to  win  one 
more  smile,  one  more  glance,  from  the  veiled  eyes. 
The  student  forgot  his  books,  and  considered  them 
worthless,  as  they  revealed  no^  charm  whereby  he 
might  win  one  sign  from  the  parted  lips.  Yet 
morally  Meihi  was  more  base  than  Cleopatra. 
She  loved  no  man  ;  she  used  all ;  and  she  wrecked 
a  dynasty. 

The  emperor  was  her  slave.  He  built  her  a 
palace  of  jade,  onyx,  and  gold,  surrounded  it  with 
splendid  gardens,  filled  with  every  costly  flower 
and  shrub  and  rare  animal  that  his  empire  con- 
tained. There  were  grottos  and  dells,  artificial 
lakes  and  waterfalls,  baths  of  scented  waters, 
bits  of  wild  forest  in  which  spotted  deer  roamed 
and  birds  from  all  climes  sung.  The  orgies 
of  this  fairy-land  filled  the  nation  with  dis- 
gust. At  night  the  trees  would  be  lighted,  a 
lake  filled  with  wine,  shrubbery  hung  with  confec- 
tions, and  thousands  of  naked,  dissolute  men  and 
women  would  sport  about  the  grounds,  dance  to 
the  lyre  and  the  lute,  or  rush  into  the  lake  of 
wine,  and  drink  until  drunk  or  drowned.  Because 
the  prince  of  Shang  remonstmted,  the  emperor 
built  an  underground  palace,  where  for  a  month 
at  a  time  his  dissolute  court  would  disappear,  and 
indulge  in  the  wildest  debauchery.     Finding  words 


48  CHINA* S    OPEN   DOOR, 

and  warnings  vain,  Tang,  the  prince  of  Shang,  re- 
sorted to  sterner  methods,  and  placed  the  crown 
on  his  own  brow,  thereby  founding  the  Shang 
dynasty,  which  ruled  for  over  six  hundred  years 
(B.C.  1766-1122),  and  which,  curiously  enough, 
was  wrecked  by  a  woman  under  almost  similar 
circumstances  to  those  just  narrated. 

The  virtuous  Tang  was  succeeded  by  twenty- 
eight  emperors,  who,  with  two  exceptions,  tried  to 
excel  each  other  in  cruelty  and  wickedness.  One 
of  them,  Wu  Yih,  has  the  distinction  of  introdu- 
cing idols  (B.C.  1199-1194)  into  China.  He  did 
this  to  show  his  utter  unbelief  in  God  and  all 
religion.  Then,  to  show  his  contempt  for  these 
figures  of  wood  and  clay,  he  ordered  the  bonzes 
to  fight  with  them  to  prove  that  the  gods  whose 
counterfeit  presentment  they  were  could  not  pror 
tect  themselves. 

The  Nemesis  of  the  Shang  dynasty  was  Taki, 
the  companion  of  the  last  emperor.  Chow  Sin,  and 
the  most  beautiful  woman  in  Chinese  history 
since  Meihi.  If  the  historical  accounts  are  true, 
Takai  exceeded  Meihi  both  in  beauty  and  general 
wickedness.  She  was  more  than  licentious,  —  she 
was  cruel  for  the  pleasure  it  gave  her.  She  was 
Cleopatra,  Lucretia  Borgia,  and  Catharine  in  one. 
Her  beauty  was  so  great  that  when  it  was  ordered 


TAKI  AND   THE  STAG    TOIVER.       49 

that  she  should  pay  the  penalty  of  her  sins,  no 
one  could  be  found  who  could  stand  up  before  her 
eyes  and  carry  out  the  sentence.  The  victorious 
General  Fa  sent  soldier  after  soldier  to  her  prison ; 
but  each  returned,  declaring  that  he  could  not  raise 
his  hand  to  disfigure  such  divine  beauty.  Fa  was 
afraid  to  trust  himself,  and  at  length  dispatched 
an  aged  councilor,  who  covered  his  own  face,  and 
dealt  the  fatal  blow.  The  popular  belief  through- 
out China  to-day  is,  that  she  was  a  human  incar- 
nation of  a  wolf-demon.  Many  of  the  licentious 
songs  of  the  Chinese  are  reputed  to  have  been 
composed  for  Taki.  The  emperor  built  for  her 
the  famous  "  Stag  Tower,"  which  afterwards  be- 
came his  funeral  pyre.  It  took  seven  years  to 
erect  the  Stag  Tower,  which  was  more  than  a 
mile  square,  and  was  surrounded  by  a  vast  park. 
He  built  other  palaces,  that  taxed  the  empire 
to  the  very  limit,  and  in  the  building  of  which 
thousands  of  lives  were  sacrificed  through  over- 
work and  privation.  Watching  the  workmen  in 
one  of  the  parks,  the  empress  noticed  that  in 
fording  an  artificial  stream  of  cold  spring  water 
the  young  men  seemed  to  feel  the  cold  more 
than  the  old.  Taki  argued  that  the  reason  for 
this  was  that  the  young  men  had  more  marrow  in 
tlieir  bones.     The  emperor  was  not  convinced ;  and 


50  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

to  satisfy  himself  he  ordered  his  guards  to  seize  a 
number  of  both  young  and  old  and  break  their 
legs  so  that  his  doubts  might  be  at  rest.  All  the 
orgies  of  Meihi  were  imitated  and  exaggerated  by 
this  precious  couple. 

The  punishment  for  such  crimes  and  abuse  of 
power  was  not  only  death,  but  the  loss  of  throne ; 
and  as  the  end  of  every  Chinese  dynasty  has  been 
brought  about  through  the  cruelty  or  weakness  of 
its  representatives,  so  the  inauguration  of  each 
new  dynasty  has  for  a  time  meant  reforms  and 
good  times.  The  founder  of  the  Chow  dynasty 
(b.  c.  1122-255)  ranks  with  the  great  founders 
of  the  Hai  and  Shang  dynasties.  The  Emperor 
Wu  Wang,  the  first  of  the  Chows,  if  on  the 
dragon  throne  to-day,  would  settle  the  perplexed 
question  of  China's  future.  With  a  man  of 
his  caliber,  activity,  and  honesty  at  the  helm 
backed  by  a  united  empire,  there  would  be  little 
need  for  international  interference.  One  of  the 
sages  has  remarked  that  the  king  is  the  dish, 
and  the  people  the  water ;  if  the  dish  is  round  so 
will  the  water  be.  Wu  Wang  found  the  nation 
in  much  worse  straits  than  Kwangsu,  the  present 
emperor,  found  it  when  he  mounted  the  throne. 
The  people,  however,  soon  discovered  that  Wu 
Wang  was  honest  in  his  reforms,  and  that  his  laws 


THE  FIRST  OF   THE   CHOWS.  51 

were  for  the  great  as  well  as  for  the  small ;  and 
they  united  to  hold  up  his  hands  and  second 
every  act,.  Wu,  like  William  the  Conqueror,  es- 
tablished the  feudal  system  in  China  by  dividing 
his  kingdom  among  his  lieutenants,  and  bestowing 
upon  them  titles  of  nobility.  He  subdivided  these 
estates  into  allotments  on  which  ten  families 
should  reside,  and  to  meet  the  expenses  of  the 
empire  put  in  force  the  tithing-system.  He  estab- 
lished free  schools,  built  homes  for  the  aged  and 
infirm,  and  carried  out  reforms  with  a  firm  but  just 
hand  in  every  department  of  his  vast  empire. 
His  fame  spread  beyond  his  dominions,  and  em- 
bassies from  Korea  and  Cochin-China  waited  upon 
him,  and  the  wild  tribes  of  Tartary  and  the  fron- 
tier sent  him  tribute. 

In  sweeping  the  augean  stables  of  the  last  of 
the  Shang  kings,  Wu  accomplished  what  is  con- 
sidered, in  the  case  of  the  present  dynasty,  impos- 
sible, by  the  concert  of  civilized  nations.  He 
proved  that  the  dwarfed  and  stunted  tree  of 
national  life  could  be  made  to  blossom  and  bear 
good  fruit  if  intelligently  and  patiently  watered 
and  nurtured.  China's  history  is  forever  repeating 
itself,  and  it  is  possible  that  the  regeneration  of  the 
China  of  to-day  will  come  from  within  rather  than 
from  without.      Fortunately  for   the   nation   Wu 


52  CHINA'S    OPEN    DOOR. 

was  succeeded  by  an  able  son,  who  for  tliirty-eight 
years  worked  with  his  famous  uncle,  the  great 
duke  of  Chow,  to  carry  on  and  finish  the  work  of 
his  illustrious  father.  Wu,  however,  made  one 
great  fatal  mistake,  in  the  establishment  of  the 
feudal  system;  a  mistake  which  in  China,  as  in 
Europe,  has  caused  more  bloodshed,  oppression, 
and  misery,  than  any  other  one  institution  in  the 
world's  history.  It  created  an  excuse  for  wars  that 
had  not  before  existed,  distracted  and  disruptured 
the  empire,  destroyed  what  little  national  patriotism 
there  was,  and  quadrupled  the  taxation  of  the  people. 
Emperor  after  emperor  was  forced  to  enter  into 
treaties  and  compacts  with  his  own  vassals  in 
order  to  save  his  throne  from  the  grasp  of  some 
ambitious  vassal,  or  he  was  forced  to  sit  quietly 
by  while  the  great  dukes  of  Chow  or  Tsin  or 
Sung  made  unrighteous  wars  on  a  weaker  duke 
or  princeling,  or  hj  force  major  absorbed  his  terri- 
tory and  confiscated  his  revenues.  From  time  to 
time  there  would  be  a  strong  emperor  like  Chau 
Sing  who  would  reduce  the  factious  and  rebellious 
princes  to  a  state  of  masked  submission,  but  it 
was  a  fight,  veiled  or  otherwise,  that  only  ended 
with  the  death  of  one  or  other  of  the  contestants. 
There  were  centuries  when  the  emperor  of  China 
was  merely  a  man  and  a  name,  whom  the  powerful 


FEUDALISM  IN  CHINA.  53 

princes  indifferently  tolerated,  and  whose  title  they 
would  protect  or  attack  as  it  suited  their  interests. 
Following  the  reign  of  Mu  (b.c.  1001-946),  to 
whom  belongs  the  honor  of  further  debasing  the 
morals  of  the  people  by  introducing  a  regular  scale 
of  prices  for  crimes  in  the  place  of  the  penal  code, 
the  feudal  princes,  who  styled  themselves  kings, 
became  the  real  power,  and  the  empire  was  little 
more  than  a  confederacy  of  loosely  bound  states. 

The  feudal  times  of  Europe  were  reproduced  in 
China ;  and  the  great  lords  raised  up  and  threw 
down  emperors,  took  the  reins  of  power  into  their 
own  hands,  and  made  the  history  of  the  epoch  the 
narration  of  their  own  petty  quarrels  and  bicker- 
ings. In  China  as  in  Europe  feudalism  developed 
great  captains  and  daring  robber-barons.  It  created 
a  so-called  age  of  chivalry,  but  ground  down  the 
common  people,  fostered  ignorance,  and  hindered 
progress.  One  of  the  heroic  characters  of  this  age 
was  the  duke  of  Shau,  who,  when  the  cruelties  of 
the  Emperor  Li  caused  the  people  to  rise  in  rebel- 
lion and  demand  the  life  of  the  crown  prince  as 
penalty  for  his  father's  crimes,  took  his  own  son 
and  heir,  dressed  him  in  royal  robes,  and  delivered 
him  to  the  mob,  who  tore  him  to  pieces  believing 
him  to  be  the  heir  apparent.  Li  employed  a  wizard 
to  point  out  persons  in  his  court  and  on  the  street 


54  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

who  spoke  disrespectfully  of  him  behind  his  back. 
Every  denunciation  meant  death.  The  people 
were  reduced  to  such  a  state  of  terror  that  they 
dared  not  address  each  other  on  the  merest  subject, 
and  almost  universal  silence  reigned  at  the  capital. 
The  emperor  sneeringly  remarked  to  the  Duke  of 
Shau,  "  I  have  stopped  the  profane  talk  of  my 
people,  and  given  them  a  lesson  in  good  manners." 

"  You  have  only  dammed  up  the  words  in  their 
hearts,"  he  replied,  "  and  that  is  a  dangerous  thing 
even  for  a  king  to  do  ;  when  the  waters  of  a  river 
are  obstructed,  they  will  by  and  by  carry  every 
thing  before  them." 

In  the  midst  of  times  like  those  of  which  Men- 
cius  writes,  "  the  Royal  Ordinances  are  violated, 
the  people  are  oppressed,  and  the  supphes  of  food 
and  drink  flow  away  like  water,"  Confucius  was 
bom.  His  birth  in  the  year  B.C.  551,  was  the 
most  momentous  event  in  all  Chinese  history,  as 
the  birth  of  Christ  was  the  most  momentous  event 
in  the  history  of  the  world.  I  would  not  presume 
to  compare  the  works  and  teachings  of  Confucius 
with  those  of  Christ,  neither  can  there  be  any  just 
comparison  between  Confucius  and  Mahomet. 
Like  Moses  and  Solon,  Confucius  was  a  lawgiver ; 
and  yet  he  was  more  than  a  mere  lawgiver;  he 
was    a    practical    philosopher    of    the    Benjamin 


CONFUCIUS.  55 

Franklin  type,  a  greater  leader  than  Peter  the 
Hermit,  and  a  teacher  second  only  to  Christ. 
Beyond  a  few  fabulous  stories  about  his  birth, 
there  is  nothing  mythical  or  legendary  in  the  life 
of  Confucius.  His  is  the  one  strong,  masterful 
figure  in  Chinese  history,  that  stands  out  clear-cut 
and  distinct  against  a  vast  background  of  medi- 
ocracy  and  of  mythical  heroes.  His  words  cannot 
be  judged  by  our  standards,  —  for  their  influence 
appears  out  of  all  proportion  to  our  interpretation, 
—  but  must  be  respected  in  the  light  of  the  won- 
derful changes  for  the  better  they  have  wrought  in 
Chinese  life  and  character.  It  is  almost  impos- 
sible to  select  from  the  books  of  Confucius  quota- 
tions expressing  to  the  Chinese  all  that  the  Bible 
does  to  us,  or  that  commend  themselves  to  our  minds 
as  either  simply  instructive  or  deeply  profound. 
Personally  I  prefer  "  Poor  Richard's  Almanac," 
which  only  proves  the  utter  hopelessness  of  recon- 
ciling Chinese  methods  of  thought  to  American 
standards.  "  Virtue,"  he  teaches,  "  is  the  basis  of 
good  government."  All  nations  admit  this  axiom, ' 
but  the  question  has  always  been  as  to  how  virtue 
is  to  be  cultivated.  "  Virtue,"  Confucius  adds, 
"consists,  first,  in  procuring  for  the  people  the 
things  necessary  for  their  sustenance  .  .  .  the 
ruler  must  also  think  of  rendering  them  virtuous. 


56  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

and  of  preserving  them  from  whatever  can  injure 
life  and  health."  As  to  the  duty  of  the  people  he 
says: 

"  The  services  of  love  and  reverence  to  parents 
when  alive,  and  those  of  grief  and  sorrow  for 
them  when  dead,  these  completely  discharge  the 
fundamental  duty  of  living  men."  He  saw  a 
woman  weeping  by  the  roadside,  and  sent  a  dis- 
ciple to  ascertain  the  cause.  "  You  weep,"  said 
the  messenger,  "  as  if  you  had  experienced  sorrow 
upon  sorrow."  "  I  have,"  said  the  woman.  "  My 
father-in-law  was  killed  here  by  a  tiger,  and  my 
husband  also,  and  now  my  son  has  met  the  same 
fate."  "  Why,  then,  do  you  not  move  from  this 
place  ?  "  asked  Confucius.  "  Because  here  there  is 
no  oppressive  government,"  answered  the  woman. 
Turning  to  his  disciples,  Confucius  remarked: 
"  My  children,  remember  this,  oppressive  govern- 
ment is  fiercer  than  a  tiger."  A  very  natural 
deduction,  and  one  that  commends  itself  to  the 
experience  of  every  Chinaman  who  has  been  un- 
fortunate enough  to  get  into  a  magistrate's  yamen. 
Confucius  had  himself  been  a  magistrate,  and 
knew  whereof  he  talked.  As  a  magistrate,  he  re- 
formed not  only  the  entire  judiciary  of  his  state, 
but  introduced  most  drastic  moral  refonns,  and 
made  laws  in  reference  to  both  the  living  and  the 


REFORMER   AND   DIPLOMAT.  57 

dead.  He  -arranged  that  the  dependent  aged 
should  be  cared  for,  and  that  all  labor  should  be 
allotted  according  to  the  physical  strength  of  the 
workers  —  the  weaklings  might  braid  mats,  while 
the  strong  carried  bricks  —  so  all  men  labored 
according  to  their  capacities  and  strength.  He 
ordered  that  men  and  women  in  walking  on  the 
public  roads  should  take  different  sides,  so  that 
there  should  be  no  promiscuous  mingling  of  the 
sexes.  He  decreed  that  valuables  that  might 
have  been  dropped  by  the  way  should  not  be 
picked  up  by  the  passer-by,  but  be  left  to  be  found 
by  the  owner.  He  would  not  permit  bad  work  or 
shoddy  materials  to  be  exposed  for  sale  in  the 
market,  and  reduced  the  burdensome  and  lavish 
expenditure  at  funerals.  His  reforms  proved  so 
efficacious  that  other  magistrates  imitated  him, 
and  after  one  year  Confucius  was  promoted  to 
minister  of  justice  to  the  Duke  Ting.  Not  only 
as  a  reformer  and  administrator  did  Confucius 
shine,  but  he  showed  the  highest  diplomatic  abil- 
ity. He  averted  a  war  between  the  rival  states  of 
Lu  and  Tsi,  stopped  numerous  internecine  out- 
breaks, and  made  it  impossible  for  ambitious  man- 
darins to  raise  the  standard  of  revolt  by  issuing 
an  order  that  no  yaraen  should  contain  coats  of 
mail,  and  that  the  walls  of  numerous  turbulent 


58  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

cities  should  be  reduced  in  height.  Later,  as 
prime  minister,  he  exercised  almost  royal  powers, 
and  made  the  Dukedom  of  Lu  the  model  and  envy 
of  the  entire  empire.  Unfortunately,  Confucius 
was  not  a  god,  nor  even  a  king  ;  and  it  was  not 
long  before  his  patron,  the  Duke  Ting,  grew  tired 
of  being  good,  and  the  ungrateful  people  became 
weary  of  the  golden  rule.  The  old  rival  state  of 
Tsi  decided  to  tempt  the  virtue  of  the  model 
duke,  and  sent  him  as  a  present  eighty  beautiful 
women  and  one  hundred  and  twenty  blooded 
horses.  Confucius  vainly  urged  his  duke  to  re- 
fuse the  gift,  and  subsequently  Confucius  resigned 
his  office,  and  retired  from  court.  Thereafter  he 
devoted  himself  to  compiling,  editing,  and  annotat- 
ing the  literature  of  China,  and  of  writing  out  at 
length  his  own  teachings  and  philosophies.  He 
died  in  B.C.  478,  a  natural  death — a  happiness 
that  rarely  came  to  a  public  man  of  the  times.  A 
cup  of  poison  or  a  silk  cord,  with  the  compliments 
of  the  duke  or  king,  was  the  usual  end  of  nearly 
if  not  quite  all  the  famous  statesmen  of  China  to 
within  the  last  three  hundred  years. 

Confucius  was  a  sensible,  practical,  brainy, 
hard-working  statesman  and  scholar, — a  statement 
that  cannot  be  applied  to  the  long  line  of  empe- 
rors that  insisted  on  deifying  him.     He  did  not 


CONFUCIUS.  59 

strive  to  build  up  a  religion,  or  to  pose  as  a  god 
or  the  prophet  of  a  god.  Confucianism  became 
one  of  the  mighty  religions  of  the  earth  through 
neither  the  wish  nor  the  fault  of  the  man  from 
whom  it  derived  its  name.  It  became  a  religion 
because  Confucian  philosophy  was  so  much  higher, 
nobler,  and  purer  than  the  teachings  of  Buddha 
or  Laotze.  The  common  people  understood  Con- 
fucius as  the  fishermen  of  Galilee  understood 
Jesus,  and  they  saw  that  Confucius  practiced 
what  he  preached.  It  was  a  most  natural  evolu- 
tion whereby  Confucius  became  a  god  and  his 
written  words  a  religion,  although  he  himself  did 
not  recognize  the  existence  of  a  living  God,  and 
his  teachings  contained  no  hint  of  a  future  life, 
either  in  heaven  or  in  hell.  When  asked  his 
opinion  of  death  he  said,  "  How  can  one  know 
death  when  one  does  not  know  life  ?  " 

"  The  teaching  of  Confucianism  on  human  duty," 
says  Dr.  Legge,  "is  wonderful  and  admirable." 
It  is  not  perfect,  indeed  ;  "  but  on  the  last  three 
of  the  four  things  which  Confucius  delighted  to 
teach  —  letters,  ethics,  devotion  of  soul,  and  truth- 
fulness —  his  utterances  are  in  harmony  with  both 
the  law  and  the  gospel."  "  No  people,"  says  Mr. 
Medhurst,  "  whether  of  ancient  or  modem  times, 
has  possessed  a  sacred  literature  so  completely  ex- 


60  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

empt  as  the  Chinese  from  licentious  descriptions 
and  from  every  offensive  expression.  There  is 
not  a  single  sentence  in  the  whole  of  the  Sacred 
Books  and  their  annotations  that  may  not  be  read 
aloud  in  every  family  circle.  Again,  in  every 
other  non-Christian  country,  idolatry  has  been 
associated  with  human  sacrifices  and  with  the 
deification  of  vice,  accompanied  by  licentious  rites 
and  orgies.     No  sign  of  all  this  exists  in  China." 

Beautiful  as  are  these  tributes,  they  might  with 
equal  justice  be  applied  to  Emerson's  "  Essays."' 
Both  philosophers  recognized  the  practical  utility 
of  the  golden  rule  as  a  national  policy,  but  neither 
promised  anything  further,  or  tried  to  direct  any- 
thing beyond  the  mind  and  heart.  Confucius 
made  no  promises,  like  the  Bible,  of  future  re- 
ward for  doing  good,  or  held  up  glittering  prizes 
like  IVIahomet.  He  was  only  a  teacher,  and  taught 
as  best  he  could  the  doctrine  of  sympathy  and 
benevolence,  whereby  man  might  live  righteously 
in  this  present  life,  be  at  peace  with  his  neighbors, 
and  enjoy  the  happiness  of  a  good  conscience. 
He  wrote  only  of  what  he  knew,  or  of  what  he  or 
others  had  experienced.  He  had  nothing  to  say 
of  miracles,  superstitions,  or  manifestations,  as  did 
the  early  writers  of  the  Roman  Christian  church. 
When  questioned  regarding  supernaturalism,  he 


THE   HOLD    OF   CONFUCIANISM.    61 

replied :  "  A  superior  man  does  not  talk  about 
mysterious  powers  and  supernatural  spirits." 
Confucius,  however,  believed  in  good  and  evil 
spirits,  like  all  the  great  scholars  of  his  age,  al- 
though he  would  not  teach  or  talk  of  them.  He 
exactly  predicted  his  own  death,  because  of  a 
report  that  a  unicorn  had  been  caught  during  a 
hunting  expedition  of  the  duke,  which  he  con- 
sidered an  evil  omen. 

The  wonder  of  Confucianism  is  the  hold  that 
it  has  taken  on  the  Chinese  race,  and  on  all  other 
races  that  have  come  directly  under  its  influence. 
Even  the  barbaric  Mongols  from  the  wild  steppes 
became  easy  converts ;  and  seven  hundred  years 
after  his  death  we  find  the  immediate  successor  of 
the  great  Kublai  Khan  issuing  an  edict  to  hold 
the  memory  of  Confucius  in  the  highest  rever- 
ence, while  the  next  Mongol  emperor  ordered  that 
the  Confucian  classic  on  "  Filial  Piety "  should 
be  translated  into  the  Mongol  language. 

To-day  the  child  in  China  learns  his  characters 
from  the  Confucian  classics,  and  the  old  man  dies 
with  a  volume  in  his  hand.  The  consular  inter- 
preter is  a  graduate  of  Yale,  and  has  lived  for  ten 
years  in  the  United  States ;  and  yet  his  little  son 
of  eight  has  a  private  tutor,  who  comes  every  day 
to  instruct  him  in  the  writings  of  the   master. 


62  CHINA'S    OPEN   DOOR. 

He  will  learn  English  later,  but  nothing  must 
interfere  in  his  being  thoroughly  grounded  in  the 
Confucian  classics. 

I  may  be  repeating  myself,  but  I  cannot  help 
impressing  upon  the  minds  of  American  students 
that  as  Shakspere  is  the  greatest  of  Enghsh 
writers,  so  Confucius  is  pre-eminently  the  greatest 
writer  of  another  civilization ;  that  he  was  no  pre- 
tender or  sham,  or  even  revolutionist,  —  he  was 
simply  one  of  the  great  actual  characters  of 
history,  and  is  no  more  mythological  than  his 
contemporaries  in  the  religious  and  philosophical 
revival  that  was  at  the  time  sweeping  over  the 
pagan  world,  led  by  Pythagoras  in  Greece,  Eze- 
kiel  and  Daniel  among  the  Jews,  Gautama  in 
India,  and  Zoroaster  in  Persia.  America  and  Eu- 
rope will  become  better  acquainted  with  China 
and  Chinese  history  in  the  next  generation,  and 
then  Confucius  will  be  better  understood  and 
honored  for  himself  rather  than  for  the  so-called 
religion  of  which  he  was  unwittingly  the  founder. 


THE   TSIN  DTNASTT,  63 


IV. 


FROM   THE   TSIN  TO    THE   TANG 
DTNJSTIES. 

[255  B.C.    TO  656  A.D.] 

THE  example  and  repeated  warnings  of 
Confucius  did  not  save  the  Chow  dynasty. 
It  had  become  too  debased,  too  licentious, 
and  too  effeminate  to  do  more  than  carry  on  court 
intrigue,  and  plot  its  own  destruction.  It,  however, 
will  forever  remain  famous  as  having  produced  the 
three  greatest  minds  in  Chinese  history,  —  Laotze 
(B.C.  604),  the  founder  of  the  Taoist  philosophy; 
Mencius  (B.C.  371),  who  as  a  writer  and  thinker 
stands  only  second  to  Confucius;  and  Confucius. 
Around  these  are  grouped  a  list  of  distinguished 
names  in  war,  diplomacy,  and  literature,  whose 
deeds  are  stUl  sung,  and  whose  words  are  still 
honored. 

There  is  little  of  interest  in  the  records  of  the 
short-lived  Tsin  dynasty  (b.c.  255-206).  Its 
doings  were  but  a  repetition  of  the  acts  of  the  last 
of  the  Sungs,  —  rebellions,  murders,  court  cabals, 


64  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

and  wars  along  the  frontier.  The  Emperor  Chung 
shocked  the  court  ceremonial  of  his  age  by  taking 
to  himself  the  editorial  "  We  "  and  "  Us  "  in  speak- 
ing of  himself;  and  when  it  was  pointed  out  to 
him  that  none  of  his  famous  predecessors  had  arro- 
gated such  pompous  titles,  he  modestly  replied 
that  he  considered  his  virtues  and  achievements 
equal  to  any  three  of  the  quondam  sitters  on  the 
dragon  throne,  and  consequently  it  was  only  right 
that  he  should  address  himself  in  the  plural.  Be- 
cause the  scholars  persisted  in  drawing  invidious 
comparisons  between  himself  and  the  illustrious 
Yau  and  Shun,  and  proved  their  comparisons  by 
quotations  from  Confucius  and  Mencius,  Chung 
issued  an  order  that  all  the  classical  works  in  the 
empire  should  be  burned ;  that  if  two  scholars 
were  found  talking  together  about  the  classics  they 
were  to  be  put  to  death ;  and  that  if  they  were 
heard  expressing  their  belief  that  the  ancient 
books  and  customs  were  superior  to  those  of  to- 
day, they  and  their  families  were  to  be  executed. 
Soon  after,  finding  that  the  scholars  had  not  im- 
plicitly obeyed  his  orders,  he  decreed  that  four 
hundred  and  sixty  of  the  most  eminent  be  decapi- 
tated as  a  gentle  reminder,  —  an  example  of  press 
censorship  that  leaves  the  newspaper  men  of  the 
Spanish-American  war  something  to  be  thankful 


THE  ''JACKSON''    OF   CHINA.  65 

fori  Chung,  or  as  he  called  himself,  Hwang- ti, 
was  a  hot-headed,  sturdy  ruler  of  tlie  General  Jack- 
son type.  He  believed  that  the  way  "  to  resume 
specie  payments  was  to  resume ; "  and  when  the 
Tartars  became  extremely  troublesome  on  the 
northern  borders  it  occurred  to  him  that  it  would 
be  less  worry  and  expense  to  employ  his  army  to 
erect  a  wall  along  the  entire  frontier  than  to  deci- 
mate it  in  meeting  the  hardy  Huns  in  the  field. 
The  wall  was  completed  in  five  years.  It  is  fifteen 
hundred  miles  long,  and  broad  enough  for  six 
horsemen  to  ride  abreast.  As  the  builder  of  the 
great  wall,  which  has  been  accounted  one  of  the 
seven  wonders  of  the  world,  Chung  has  written 
his  name  by  the  side  of  the  architects  of  the  pyrar 
mids  and  the  hanging  gardens  of  Babylon. 

With  all  his  intellect  and  superb  force  of  char- 
acter, Chung  had  his  weak  points,  but  he  was  strong 
even  in  them.  He  had  no  desire  to  mount  the 
dragon  chariot,  and  become  a  guest  on  high,  and 
he  therefore  prosecuted  the  search  for  an  elixir  of 
life  with  a  fierce  determination  that  was  worthy  of  a 
better  cause.  He  took  all  kinds  of  decoctions,  and 
must  have  been  a  gold-mine  to  all  the  quacks  and 
priests  in  his  dominion.  The  only  result  was  that 
Chung  commenced  to  see  visions,  and  discovered 
his  nerves.     He  called  a  consultation  of  doctors; 


66  CHINA'S    OPEN    DOOR. 

and  they  decided  that  he  was  pursued  by  malig- 
nant spirits,  and  that  he  must  arrange  to  spend  his 
nights  so  that  no  one  should  know  in  what  part  of 
his  palace  he  intended  to  sleep.  Chung  did  not 
believe  in  half -measures ;  so  he  built  a  palace  of 
a  thousand  bedrooms,  one  for  each  wife,  with  a 
great  central  hall  that  would  seat  ten  thousand 
persons.  Seven  hundred  thousand  criminals  and 
prisoners  were  employed  in  its  erection.  The 
scheme  worked  splendidly,  and  Chung  was  able 
to  evade  his  ghostly  pursuers  by  this  game  of  hide 
and  seek.  Unfortunately,  however,  he  grew  over- 
bold in  time,  and  took  a  tour  through  his  kingdom, 
during  which  he  became  a  guest  on  high  in  spite 
of  his  costly  precautions. 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  none  of  the  vast  palaces 
and  mausoleums  of  which  we  have  record  were 
not  allowed  to  remain  like  the  pyramids  of  Egypt. 
Each  dynasty  or,  often,  each  new  emperor  signal- 
ized its  or  his  advent  to  the  throne  by  destroying 
all  the  buildings  and  monuments  of  his  predeces- 
sors. It  was  done  as  a  protest  against  the  extrava- 
gance of  a  former  reign,  and  as  a  promise  for  the 
future.  The  son  and  successor  of  Chung  built  a 
palace  under  ground  for  the  reception  of  his 
father's  body.  It  was  luxurious  in  the  extreme, 
and  adorned  with  gold,  silver,  and  precious  stones. 


THE  HAN  DYNASTY,  67 

When  completed  several  hundreds  of  the  most 
beautiful  of  Chung's  concubines  and  their  atten- 
dants were  buried  with  the  royal  corpse.  The 
building  of  this  vast  mausoleum  was  the  last  straw 
that  broke  the  people's  back,  and  the  first  act  of 
the  rebel  who  overthrew  the  Tsin  dynasty  was  to 
plunder  and  bum  both  the  palace  and  the  tomb. 

The  famous  Han  dynasty,  that  directed  the  des- 
tiny of  400,000,000  people  for  427  years  (b.c. 
20G-A.D.  221),  came  into  royal  power  through 
bloodshed  and  crime,  and  went  out  in  murder, 
rebellion,  and  weakness.  The  details  of  each 
reign  are  sickening,  and  a  description  of  the  in- 
human cruelties  becomes  nauseating.  It  is  char- 
acteristic that  the  court  historian  should  have 
dwelt  so  largely  on  his  nation's  crimes,  and  seemed 
to  gloat  and  revel  in  the  record  of  blood  and 
misery.  It  is  only  incidentally  that  we  learn  of 
worthy  deeds,  great  inventions,  and  kindly  actions. 
The  one  glaring  picture  that  is  held  up  to  view  is 
always  Nero  and  the  Inquisition.  Yet  if  we  give 
one  look  and  pass  on,  there  are  other  pictures  that 
shed  a  luster  on  the  Han  dynasty  that  saves  one 
from  entirely  forgetting  that  the  Chinese  are 
human  after  all. 

The  action  of  the  Emperor  Chung  was  repudi- 
ated, and  the  edict  against  literature  was  removed. 


68  CHINA'S    OPEN   DOOR. 

From  secure  places  of  hiding  came  treasured  copies 
of  the  classics,  and  from  the  memories  of  the  old 
literati  were  written  down  the  sayings  of  Confucius 
and  Mencius.  The  impetus  thus  given  to  litera- 
ture not  only  reproduced  the  ancient,  but  created 
a  new  school ;  and  from  nothing  the  Imperial 
Library  in  the  next  two  hundred  years  amassed 
3,123  works  on  the  classics,  2,705  on  philosophy, 
and  1,383  on  poetry.  In  B.C.  179,  the  emperor, 
Wun  Ti,  established  two  royal  mints,  and  fixed  the 
value  of  the  coins.  In  a  succeeding  reign  the  first 
property  tax  was  promulgated,  and  everyone  was 
required  to  submit  an  estimate  of  the  value  of  his 
worldly  possessions,  and  pay  into  the  treasury  five 
per  cent.  The  art  of  making  paper  from  bamboo 
was  discovered  at  the  end  of  the  first  century,  A.D., 
which  was  quickly  followed  by  the  invention  of 
ink.  To  a  Han  belongs  the  credit  of  having  intro- 
duced his  people  to  Buddhism,  and  of  making  it  the 
court  religion.  Jesus  Christ  had  been  dead  sixty- 
five  years  when  the  emperor  Ming  Ti  sent  ambas- 
sadors to  India  in  search  of  a  new  religion.  There 
was  no  pretense  at  conversion,  no  arguments  ad- 
vanced, no  reasons  given  why  all  should  pin  their 
faith  on  the  new  god  Fo  which  the  embassy  dis- 
covered. Ming  Ti  treated  the  subject  in  the  same 
offhand  manner  with  which  he  revised  the  criminal 


MING  TI  SEEKS  A  NEW  RELIGION.  69 

law  by  making  it  possible  to  commute  capital 
crimes  by  money  payments.  The  doctrine  of  the 
transmigration  of  souls  amused  him,  as  the  scale 
of  rewards  and  punishments  pleased  his  ministers, 
and  appealed  to  the  popular  imagination  as  it 
promised  a  future  life.  So  by  a  word  it  was  done. 
Had  his  ambassadors  gone  farther,  and  reached 
Judea,  the  same  flippant  words  would  have  made 
the  gentle  teachings  of  Jesus  Christ  the  religion  of 
China,  —  a  thought  so  tremendous  in  its  possibili- 
ties that  it  makes  one  stagger  to  consider  it.  What 
would  have  been  the  history  of  China,  the  history 
of  Asia,  the  history  of  the  world  to-day  had  some 
traveler  told  the  emperor  the  story  of  the  miracle 
of  turning  water  into  wine,  or  of  the  loaves  and 
fishes,  before  he  had  heard  of  the  Indian  sage? 
What  would  Christianity  have  done  for  the 
Chinese  ? 

In  war  and  diplomacy  the  Hans  left  an  enviable 
record.  They  penetrated  and  subdued  the  nations 
up  to  the  shores  of  the  Caspian  Sea.  Cochin 
China  and  the  now  famous  Liaotung  peninsula 
were  reduced  to  feudatories,  Yunnan  was  added 
to  the  empire,  and  diplomatic  relations  were 
established  with  Turkestan  and  Arabia. 

Weak  as  was  the  last  Han,  there  was  still  no 
man  strong  enough,  by  himself,  to  succeed  him. 


70  CHINA'S    OPEN   DOOR, 

The  dragon  throne  was  a  glittering  prize  that 
danced  before  the  eyes  of  each  great  feudal  lord, 
and  brought  about  a  fierce  contest  that  lasted  for 
forty-three  years.  Like  the  War  of  the  Roses 
and  the  Thirty  Years'  War,  "the  War  of  the 
Three  Kingdoms "  is  the  unfailing  inspiration 
for  poet  and  story-teller.  It  is  a  period  full  of 
romance  and  heroism  and  hard  fighting  and  great 
generalship,  that  reminds  one  of  the  stories  of 
the  Iliad,  and  of  King  Arthur  and  the  knights  of 
the  Round  Table.  There  were  Chinese  Glaucuses 
and  Diomeds,  Hectors  and  Ajaxes,  and  the  Chroni- 
cles of  Froissart,  and  curiously  enough  literature 
walked  hand  in  hand  with  war.  It  was  a  golden 
age  for  the  literati,  as  the  deeds  of  leaders  and 
heroes  furnished  them  with  stirring  themes  and 
abundant  materials.  The  names  of  the  great 
rival  generals,  Chu  Kuliang  and  Szemai,  are  to 
the  Chinese  what  that  of  Richard  Cceur  de  Lion 
is  to  the  English,  and  Sobieski  to  the  Poles.  One 
incident  of  their  picturesque  careers  has  been  the 
inspiration  of  as  many  poems  and  stories  as  Eng- 
lish writers  have  found  in  the  wanderings  of 
Robert  Bruce.  Szemai  had  utterly  defeated  and 
cut  up  Chu  Kuliang's  army,  and  forced  him  to 
take  refuge  in  the  walled  city  of  Hanchung,  with 
only    three   followers.      The   great   general   was, 


CHU  KULIANG  AND   SZEMAL         71 

however,  equal  to  the  occasion.  As  his  rival's 
armies  appeared  before  the  walls  he  ordered  the 
four  gates  of  the  city  to  be  thrown  open,  while  he 
calmly  took  a  position  on  a  tower  over  the  most 
conspicuous  of  them,  and  began  to  play  the  guitar. 
As  the  enemy  appeared  they  heard  with  amaze- 
ment the  music,  saw  the  open  gates,  and  looked 
in  vain  for  the  sentinels.  Szemai  came  personally 
to  examine  the  strange  sight,  and  listened  wonder- 
struck,  to  hear  his  crafty  old  foe  sing  joyfully 
to  the  accompaniment  of  his  instrument.  "  He 
seems  too  happy,  does  that  man,"  said  Szemai, 
"  for  our  comfort,  and  he  evidently  has  some  deep- 
laid  scheme  in  his  brain  by  which  he  means  to 
bring  disaster  upon  us  all."  And  rather  than 
nsk  his  freshly  won  laurels  he  hastily  retreated 
from  before  Chu  Kuliang  and  his  guitar. 

A  nephew  of  the  great  Szemai  ended  the  age  of 
chivalry  and  blood,  brought  the  three  kingdoms 
under  one  head,  and  established  the  Western  Tsin 
dynasty  (a.d.  265-317).  The  new  emperor 
established  the  Salic  Law,  declaring  that,  "  women 
should  not  reign,  nor  take  any  part  in  public 
matters."  A  good  law,  no  doubt,  as  Chinese  his- 
torians aver,  but  one  that  the  son  of  Wu  Ti  found 
as  impossible  to  put  into  force  as  did  Adam  in  the 
garden,  or  Antony  in  Egypt. 


72  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

An  embassy  from  the  Roman  emperor,  Theodo- 
sius,  arrived  during  the  reign  of  Wu  Ti,  and  the 
making  of  cloth  from  cotton  was  introduced. 
The  Eastern  Tsin  dynasty  broke  down  from  sheer 
weakness.  It  produced  but  one  great  man,  and 
he  became  the  founder  of  the  Sung  dynasty. 
Added  to  the  usual  rebelhons  which  distracted 
every  dynasty,  the  incursions  of  Tartars,  and 
"  Outer  Barbarians,"  —  as  all  outsiders  from  the 
earliest  days  have  been  styled,  —  became  more  fre- 
quent and  disastrous  during  the  Sungs.  Shau  Ti, 
the  second  ruler  of  the  Sungs,  built  a  wall  six 
hundred  miles  in  length  to  protect  his  northern 
borders,  —  one  of  those  stupendous  undertakings 
that  only  the  Chinese  would  project  and  carry 
out. 

It  is  told  that,  during  the  wars  that  the  Sungs 
waged  on  one  of  their  great  feudatory  kings, 
the  supplies  of  the  royal  army  were  cut  off,  and  a 
retreat  was  ordered  in  the  face  of  a  victorious 
enemy.  The  retreat  was  rapidly  becoming  a 
panic,  and  it  was  only  a  question  of  days  when 
the  great  army  of  veterans  would  become  hunted 
fugitives  in  the  wilds  of  Honan.  To  avert  this 
calamity  General  Tautsi  resorted  to  a  thoroughly 
Chinese  stratagem.  During  one  night  he  kept 
his  half-famished  soldiers  canying  sand  in  baskets, 


A  MILITARY  STRATEGIST.  73 

and  heaping  it  up  by  the  roadside.  As  each  man 
went  by  the  officer  in  charge  the  number  of  loads 
he  had  carried  was  called  out.  The  sound  of 
their  voices  and  the  regular  tread  of  the  workers 
could  be  heard  in  the  camp  of  the  king  of  Wei, 
but  no  one  could  guess  what  it  all  meant.  Spies 
were  sent  out ;  but  the  night  was  dark,  and 
although  they  could  more  distinctly  hear  the 
calling  of  numbers  and  the  incessant  tramp  of 
many  feet,  they  could  not  satisfy  the  uneasiness 
of  Wei.  Just  before  dawn  the  Sung  general 
ordered  that  the  great  heaps  of  sand  be  sprinkled 
with  a  thin  covering  of  rice.  When  the  sun 
broke  out,  and  the  Wei  men  saw  the  vast  heaps  of 
rice  in  the  opposite  camp,  they  were  struck  with 
amazement  and  chagrin.  They  believed  that 
large  stores  of  provisions,  and  no  doubt  reenforce- 
ments,  had  arrived  from  the  capital;  and  as  always 
with  the  Chinese  a  suspicion  immediately  becomes 
a  fact,  the  starving  Sung  army  was  allowed  to 
escape  unmolested. 

This  is  but  one  of  the  many  incidents  that  are 
related  of  the  gallant  career  of  the  statesman  and 
soldier,  Tautsi.  His  fame  spread  far  beyond  the 
borders  of  China,  and  he  was  feared  by  barbarians 
as  well  as  by  his  master's  unruly  vassals.  It  is 
typical,  however,  of  the  Chinese  character  that  he 


74  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

went  the  way  of  all  servants  of  the  state  whose 
services  called  for  extraordinary  rewards  —  mur- 
dered in  cold  blood  for  fear  that  he  might  possibly 
aspire  to  the  Royal  Yellow.  It  was  as  fatal  for  a 
general  to  win  a  battle  as  it  was  for  him  to  lose 
it.  In  one  case  he  aroused  his  master's  fear,  in 
the  other  his  wrath. 

The  short-lived  Tsi  dynasty  (a.d.  479-502) 
was  wrecked  by  a  woman.  Panfei,  the  mistress 
of  the  Emperor  Tung  Hwun,  the  fourth  and  last 
of  the  line,  was  celebrated  for  exquisite  grace 
and  beauty.  For  her  the  emperor  built  a  palace 
to  rival  in  splendor  anything  that  had  preceded 
it.  The  walls  were  rendered  perpetually  fragrant 
by  a  plaster  impregnated  with  musk.  The  floors 
were  covered  with  the  most  costly  designs.  One 
room  was  paved  with  golden  lilies,  which  was  re- 
sponsible for  the  artificial  cramping  of  the  feet  of 
the  women  of  China.  As  Panfei  danced  before 
the  emperor,  he  was  so  charmed  with  her  grace 
that  he  exclaimed,  "  See,  every  step  she  takes 
makes  a  lily  to  grow,"  so  ever  after  the  small  foot 
was  styled  the  "  Golden  LOy."  There  is  a  true 
saying  in  China  that,  "  Every  pair  of  golden  lilies 
costs  a  jar  of  tears."  Tung  Hwun  lived  and 
loved,  and  was  murdered  by  an  outraged  populace, 
over-taxed  in  order  that  his  proud  beauty  might 


DEPLORABLE   DESPOTS.  75 

outshine  Meihi,  Taki,  and  all  the  beautiful  throne 
records  of  former  dynasties. 

The  fate  of  Panfei,  however,  had  little  effect  on 
the  morals  of  the  three  dynasties  that  followed. 
For  one  hundred  and  sixteen  years,  to  618  A.D., 
there  is  little  that  can  be  recorded,  except  a  repe- 
tition of  the  deplorable  phases  of  Chinese  court 
history,  with  which  the  reader  is  already  too 
familiar.  One  ruler  deliberately  set  fire  to  the 
royal  library  of  one  hundred  and  forty  thousand 
books,  on  the  approach  of  an  enemy,  because  "  all 
my  reading  and  study  have  availed  me  nothing 
...  in  the  hour  of  my  extremity."  Another  built 
a  wall  three  hundred  miles  in  length,  extending 
from  Chihli  to  Shansi,  in  which  two  million  people 
were  engaged ;  and  for  his  amusement  he  organ- 
ized a  gigantic  debating  society  between  the 
priests  of  the  Taoist  and  Buddhist  faiths.  Being 
in  the  chair,  he  decided  that  the  Buddhists  had 
the  best  of  the  argument,  and  thereupon  ordered 
the  Taoists,  on  pain  of  death,  to  shave  their  heads 
and  become  bonzes.  Preferring  to  lose  their  hair 
to  their  necks,  they  all  cheerfully  complied,  and 
the  emperor  and  the  barber  wrought  an  instanta- 
neous conversion.  Another  emperor  was  known 
as  the  "  Merry  Monarch,"  and  lived  the  life  of  a 
Haroun-al-Raschid.     They  had  a  beggars'  village 


76  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

built  in  the  royal  gardens,  where  the  mendicants 
of  the  city  were  at  liberty  to  take  up  their  abode 
at  night.  His  majesty,  dressed  in  rags,  and  like 
the  meanest  of  them,  wandered  through  the  streets 
of  the  capital  with  his  straw  wallet,  the  beggar's 
badge.  He  would  also  make  his  rounds  among 
the  mandarins  in  the  palace,  and  ladies  of  the 
royal  household.  Whoever  gave  him  alms  he 
would  reward  and  surprise  with  liigh  official  posi- 
tion or  costly  presents,  after  he  had  thrown  off 
the  disguise.  In  a.d.  852  yellow  was  adopted 
as  the  royal  color  by  the  Emperor  Kautsu,  the 
founder  of  the  Sui  dynasty,  and  the  one  strong 
character  of  the  period.  To  the  successor  of 
Kautsu  belongs  the  reputation  of  building  the 
vast  canal  system  of  China,  of  being  a  patron  of 
art  and  literature,  and  of.  being  the  most  reckless 
and  wildly  extravagant  emperor  that  ever  occupied 
the  dragon  throne.  Wang  Ti  lived  a  short  life 
and  a  merry  one ;  no  expenditure  appalled  him, 
and  no  sacrifice  of  blood  and  treasure  deterred 
him  from  following  to  the  very  end  any  of  his 
fancies.  Even  the  building  of  the  canal  system, 
that  has  made  his  name  famous,  was  a  whim  for 
the  gratification  of  his  own  pleasures.  He  wished 
to  visit  all  the  prominent  cities  of  the  empire  in 
the  most   comfortable  and  luxurious   way.      He 


JVANG   TVS   GRAND   CANALS.  11 

ordered  that  canals  be  immediately  dug  from  the 
river  Pien,  a  branch  of  the  Han,  in  Hupeh,  to  tlie 
river  Sz,  a  short  stream  in  Shantung;  another 
from  Sz  to  communicate  with  the  river  Hwai,  and 
that  the  existing  water-courses  be  widened.  At 
the  same  time  he  ordered  built  forty  thousand 
"  dragon  boats "  for  the  accommodation  of  his 
three  thousand  concubines  and  immediate  court. 
The  canals  were  not  mere  ditches,  but  magnificent 
examples  of  both  engineering  and  artistic  skill  — 
nothing  was  left  unfinished  to  offend  the  critical 
eye  of  the  dandy.  They  were  one  hundred  and 
twenty  feet  wide,  lined  with  cut  stone,  with  paved 
roads  on  either  side,  shaded  by  full-grown  trees. 
Taskmasters  drove  the  laborers  day  and  night, 
and  of  the  million  men  employed  it  is  stated  that 
over  forty  per  cent  died.  In  the  first  royal  jour- 
ney from  Lohyang,  the  capital,  to  Nanking,  the 
procession  of  boats  extended  for  over  sixty  miles, 
and  eighty  thousand  soldiers  were  detailed  to  drag 
them.  The  royal  barge  was  two  hundred  feet 
long  and  forty  feet  high,  with  four  decks.  Every 
district  through  which  they  passed  was  levied 
upon  for  provisions  to  support  this  immense  host 
in  transit.  The  magnificent  pageant  swept  through 
the  empire  for  eight  months,  the  wonder  and  ruin 
of  all  who  came  within  its  reach.     The  vast  pal- 


78  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

aces,  gardens,  towns,  artificial  lakes  and  mountains, 
that  Wang  Ti  the  magnificent  built  in  the  short 
twelve  years  of  his  reign  were,  according  to  the 
custom  of  the  times,  destroyed  by  his  successor ; 
but  the  canals  remained  a  blessing  to  the  descend- 
ants of  the  laborers  who  had  died  in  their  con- 
struction. Nebuchadnezzar,  the  Pharaohs,  Nero, 
and  Louis  XIV.  were  but  feeble  imitators  of  this 
royal  Chinese  spendthrift.  Cleopatra's  barge  and 
Babylon's  hanging  gardens  were  duplicated  on  a 
magnificent  scale  by  Yang  Ti.  He  had  a  godhke 
genius  for  spending  money.  In  his  palace  garden, 
which  was  so  great  that  it  contained  an  artificial 
lake  three  miles  wide,  and  three  artificial  islands 
one  hundred  feet  high,  the  flowering  shrubs  and 
trees  were  kept  in  perpetual  bloom  by  skilled 
workmen,  who  renewed  every  fallen  flower  with 
such  exquisite  imitation  in  silk  and  satin  that  no 
one  could  tell  the  natural  from  the  artificial  at  a 
short  distance.  After  his  death,  it  was  discovered 
that  he  had  used  up  all  the  precious  metals  in  the 
empire,  and  that  money  was  so  scarce  that  pieces 
of  leather  and  paper,  with  their  values  stamped 
upon  them,  had  to  be  used  in  trade.  He  took  his 
dethronement  with  the  same  gay  nonchalance  with 
which  he  had  sat  upon  the  throne.  To  liis  queen 
he  said,  "  Joy  and  sorrow  both  come  to  every  man. 


A  ROYAL    CHESTERFIELD.  79 

Let  us,  then,  bear  each  as  it  comes,  and  make  the 
best  of  life  we  can ; "  and  of  his  princely  execu- 
tioners he  asked  —  politely  disinterestedly  — 
"  What  sin  have  1  committed  that  )''0U  wish  to 
take  away  my  life  ?  "  "  Sin,"  they  replied,  "  why, 
what  sin  is  there  that  you  have  not  been  guilty 
of?"  "What  you  say  may  be  true,"  answered 
the  royal  Chesterfield ;  "  hand  me  the  silken  cord. 
I  have  had  more  pleasure  in  my  life  than  you  can 
have  at  my  death." 


80  CHINA'S  OPEN  DOOR. 


V. 


FROM   fFU   THE    EMPRESS    TO    THE 
LAST  OF   THE  MINGS. 

[A.D.  656TOA.D.  1644.] 

THE  house  of  Tang  opened  a  new  era  in 
the  history  of  China,  and  marked  the  close 
of  what  might  be  styled  «  The  Middle 
Ages."'  It  has  appropriately  been  called  the  Au- 
gustan age  of  Chinese  literature.  Each  emperor 
strove  to  outdo  his  predecessors  in  the  fostering  of 
scholars  and  the  education  of  the  gentry.  Great 
libraries  were  established,  schools  sprang  up,  and 
in  the  place  of  eunuchs  and  concubines,  poets,  essay- 
ists, and  historians  thronged  the  successive  courts. 
"  The  complete  poems  of  the  Tang  dynasty  "  will  be 
found  in  the  home  of  every  well-to-do  Chinaman  of 
to-day.  The  writings  of  Confucius  were  annotated 
and  popularized ;  and  in  740  that  deathless  teacher 
was  raised  to  the  rank  of  a  prince,  and  his  statue 
placed  above  that  of  the  famous  Duke  of  Chow. 
The  sixth  emperor  of  the  Tangs  founded  Hanlin 


THE  AUGUSTAN  AGE  OF  CHINA.   81 

College  (a.d.  755),  the  great  post-graduate  uni- 
versity of  Cliina.  From  its  fellows  most  of  the 
ministers  of  state  have  been  chosen.  At  the  time 
when  scholars,  princes,  artists,  priests,  musicians, 
players  of  chess,  actors,  etc.,  were  competing  for  its 
degrees  and  honors,  Europe  was  just  emerging  from 
the  barbarism  into  which  she  had  been  plunged  by 
the  conquest  of  the  Gothic  tribes.  England  was 
divided  among  Saxon  princes,  and  PVance  was  in 
the  rude  state  which  preceded  the  reign  of  Charle- 
magne. The  Emperor  Kau  Tsu  ordered  an  ex- 
amination of  all  temples  and  nunneries,  and  turned 
out  to  earn  their  own  living  fully  a  hundred  thou- 
sand inmates  who  had  been  luxuriating  in  idleness 
and  immorality,  while  Teh  Tsung  sent  home  a 
thousand  ladies  of  his  harem  in  order  to  lighten 
the  burdens  of  state.  War  was  almost  continu- 
ously carried  on  with  the  so-called  barbarians  on 
the  frontiers,  in  which  the  Chinese  arms  were 
generally  successful,  and  large  additions  of  terri- 
tory were  made. 

The  attention  of  Europe  was  called  to  China 
during  this  dynasty  by  two  celebrated  Arab  traders, 
whose  descriptions  of  Chinese  life  might  pass  for 
pen  pictures  of  the  country  to-day.  They  men- 
tioned the  copper  money,  the  rice-wine,  and  the  use 
of   tea  as  a  beverage.     They  were   followed  by 


82  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

envoys  from  the  pope,  who  found  that  the  Nes- 
torian  Christians  had  already  been  in  the  field. 
The  most  remarkable  character  on  the  throne,  if 
not  the  strongest,  was  the  Empress  Wu,  whose 
antecedents  and  career  are  almost  paralleled  by  that 
of  the  present  empress  dowager.  Although  never 
officially  on  the  dragon  throne,  Wu  ruled  China 
with  a  rod  of  iron  for  fifty-four  years  (656-710). 
She  permitted  no  one  to  stand  in  her  way,  and  the 
four  emperors  who  came  within  her  "sphere  of  in- 
fluence" were  mere  puppets  in  her  hands.  She 
was  cruel  and  immoral,  and  added  to  the  subtle 
craft  of  a  woman  the  intellect  of  a  statesman.  She 
made  her  name  known  and  feared  to  the  remotest 
corners  of  the  empire,  and  avenged  every  outbreak 
with  a  merciless  hand.  The  Kitans  and  Turco- 
mans soon  learned  to  dread  the  length  and  strength 
of  her  arm.  She  reluctantly  resigned  the  reins  of 
power  at  the  age  of  eighty,  and  is  known  in 
Chinese  history  by  the  title  of  "  Wu,  the  Equal  of 
Heaven."  The  present  Empress  Dowager  Tsu  Tsi, 
who  has  ruled  China  for  forty  years  on  much  the 
same  lines  as  her  predecessor,  will  no  doubt  be 
satisfied  with  the  more  modest  title  of  "  The  Equal 
of  Wu."  Four  of  the  later  Tang  emperors  died 
from  the  effects  of  experimenting  with  "  elixirs  of 
immortality,"  and  it  would  have  been  httle  loss  to 


''THE  MEN  OF   TANGr  83 

the  nation's  history  had  the  last  half-dozen  been 
troubled  with  the  same  laudable  desire  to  live 
"  ten  thousand  years  ten  thousand."  To  be  styled 
one  of  "  The  men  of  Tang  "  is  considered  a  title 
of  honor ;  but  the  dynasty,  with  all  its  glories,  went 
out  in  weakness  and  disgrace,  as  all  the  dynasties 
have,  and  as  all  probably  will  so  long  as  China  is  a 
nation. 

The  last  of  the  proud  Tangs  "  voluntarily  " 
resigned  the  "  Yellow  "  to  the  murderer  of  his  own 
father ;  and  a  period  of  fifty  years  succeeded,  in 
which  the  great  princes  disputed  the  right  of  each 
fresh  usurper,  and  a  state  of  turmoil  existed  similar 
to  that  of  three  centuries  before,  when  the  Tsin 
dynasty  was  overthrown.  Five  different  families 
were  represented  on  the  throne  by  thirteen  em- 
perors — an  unlucky  number,  for  most  of  them  died 
unwillingly.  The  only  event  of  note  that  occurred 
during  these  turbulent  times  was  the  discovery  of 
the  art  of  printing,  five  hundred  years  before  it 
was  known  in  Europe.  It  is  very  probable  that 
printing  from  blocks  was  in  use  long  prior  to  this 
date ;  but  it  is  not  until  932  that  the  Chinese  his- 
torian incidentally  mentions  that  the  nine  classics 
were  printed  by  imperial  order  from  wooden  blocks, 
and  sold  to  the  public.  It  is  curious  that  it  was 
not  thought  of  sufficient  interest  to  record  either 


84  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

the  inventor's  name  or  to  claim  the  invention  for 
the  Emperor  Ming  Tsung.  Under  the  last  but 
one  of  the  rulers  of  the  "  five  dynasties  "  there 
was  a  great  scarcity  of  copper  money,  owing  to  the 
unprecedented  casting  of  idols  and  statues  to 
ancestors.  The  emperor  ordered,  to  the  horror  of 
the  priests,  that  these  idols  should  be  sent  to  the 
royal  mint  to  be  re-born  as  the  root  of  all  evil.  A 
deputation  protested  against  such  liberties  being 
taken  with  their  gods.  His  majesty  listened 
quietly  and  replied,  "  The  man  that  does  right  and 
benefits  his  fellow  men  is  a  true  reverencer  of  the 
idols.  The  gods  have  the  good  of  mankind  at 
heart,  and  therefore  they  will  be  quite  willing  to 
have  their  images  broken  up.  For  myself,  if  my 
death  would  bring  happiness  to  my  people,  I 
would  willingly  give  up  my  life  for  them." 

Shih  Tsung  lived  up  to  his  noble  sentiments, 
and  died  after  a  severe  campaign  against  the 
hardy  Khitans.  He  was  unable,  however,  to  save 
his  throne  for  his  son,  or  to  effectually  crush  these 
warlike  adventurers,  who  were  destined  for  a  time 
to  become  the  balance  of  power  in  the  civil  wars 
during  the  Sung  dynasty.  In  982,  during  the 
reign  of  the  second  Sung,  a  deputation  from  a 
"barbarian"  tribe  appeared,  that  were  later  to 
sweep  the  Chinese,  the   Khitans,   and  the  more 


A  CHINESE  REFORMER.  85 

warlike  Kins  before  them,  and  become  the  actual 
rulers  of  the  empire.  These  were  the  Mongols. 
They  came  to  acknowledge  the  supremacy  of 
China,  and  they  stayed  to  overthrow  it. 

China  has  never  lacked  for  reformers  or  at- 
tempted reforms.  As  all  reforms  are  pure  experi- 
ments, the  clever  theories  of  plausible  ministers 
found  pliable  material  to  experiment  on  among 
the  patient  hordes  of  the  Coolie  class.  They  bore 
with  the  royal  reformers,  though  much  like  the 
Scotchman  who  was  "  willing  to  be  convinced,  but 
would  like  to  see  the  man  who  could  convince 
him."  The  so-called  reforms,  however,  usually 
ended  in  great  suffering  for  the  benefited,  with 
the  net  result  that  another  fine  theory  had  gone 
wrong. 

Wang  Ngan,  the  prime  minister  of  the  Emperor 
Shen  Tsung  (1068-1086),  was  a  typical  repre- 
sentative of  the  Chinese  reformer.  Some  of  his 
acts  read  like  a  page  out  of  modern  history.  He 
had  a  commission  appointed  to  tour  the  country 
districts,  and  report  on  the  nature  of  the  soil  and 
the  condition  of  crops,  so  that  he  could  legislate 
for  the  farmer,  and  alleviate  his  condition  willy 
nilly.  In  the  summer  of  1 069  he  promulgated  his 
first  interesting  reform,  by  proposing  that  the  entire 
commerce  of  the  country  should  be  carried  on  by 


86  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

the  state,  so  that  the  people  would  have  nothing 
to  do  but  produce.  The  national  taxes  were  to  be 
paid  in  produce ;  and  the  government  was  to  buy 
the  surplus,  and  transport  it  to  sections  of  the 
country  where  it  would  be  most  in  demand.  The 
middle  man  and  money  lender  were  immediately 
wiped  out,  as  predicted  by  Wang;  but  in  their 
place  sprang  up  an  army  of  officials,  who  were 
charged  with  the  carrying  out  of  this  gigantic 
undertaking.  The  country  swarmed  with  them ; 
and  the  poor  farmers  had  to  entertain  them  befit- 
ting their  rank,  and  properly  bribe  them  to  obtain 
a  good  price  for  the  produce.  More  and  more  of  the 
yield  of  the  empire  was  consumed  in  taxes,  until  at 
last  the  surplus  was  hardly  worth  selling,  and  it 
was  clearly  obvious  that  the  reform  needed  reform- 
ing. But  like  the  modem  professional  reformer, 
Wang  was  equal  to  the  occasion.  If  the  agricultur- 
ists had  lost  money  by  his  first  attempt  to  make 
them  rich,  he  was  now  prepared  to  advance  them 
money  against  their  crops,  which  was  to  be  repaid 
twice  a  year  at  the  modest  interest  of  twenty-four 
percent.  He  modified  this  later  by  making  a  State 
Loan,  compulsory  both  to  rich  and  poor,  at  the 
slightly  increased  rate  of  thirty-three  and  a  third 
per  cent  per  annum.  This  reform  came  harder  at 
first  on  the   rich  than  on  the  poor,  as  the  poor 


WANG  AND  THE  REFORMERS.        87 

borrowed  with  no  hope  of  repaying ;  but  when  a 
drought  came  the  officials,  who  were  bound  to  de- 
liver or  pay  into  the  treasury  the  interests  on  their 
loans,  found  that  there  were  no  crops  upon  which 
to  levy,  and  began  to  torture  the  people ;  then  all 
classes  united  in  a  wail  of  lamentation,  that  reached 
even  the  dragon  throne.  The  reform  was  con- 
sequently suspended,  whereupon  heavy  rains  fell 
throughout  the  empire.  Nothing  daunted,  Wang 
produced  from  his  sleeve  another  reform  that  came 
near  being  the  last  straw.  This  was  styled  the 
"  Military  Enrollment  Act,"  which  divided  the 
people  of  the  empire  into  divisions  of  ten  famihes, 
something  after  the  old  Jewish  law.  All  able- 
bodied  men  were  to  continue  their  labor,  and  at 
the  same  time  hold  themselves  in  readiness  for  an 
instant  call.  Like  the  man  who  called  wolf  when 
there  was  no  wolf,  practice  summons,  or  false  calls 
became  so  frequent  that  able-bodied  men  by  the 
thousands  voluntarily  maimed  themselves,  and  even 
cut  off  their  arms  and  legs  so  as  not  to  be  subject 
to  the  whim  of  the  great  reformer.  Wang  went  on 
with  a  whole  series  of  reforms,  more  or  less  ingen- 
ious, which  are  interesting  to  the  reader  rather  than 
to  the  sufferer.  If  the  American  would-be  reformer, 
with  a  bright  new  idea  upon  which  he  wishes  to 
experiment,  will  study  the  history  of  China,  the 


88  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

chances  are  that  he  will  find  that  his  particular 
pet  reform  has  been  thoroughly  tried  a  thousand 
years  before  he  discovered  it.  Wang  was  a  firm 
believer  in  himself.  In  1074  the  Khitans  sent 
ambassadors,  and  demanded  the  cession  of  two 
hundred  li  of  Chinese  territory.  Wang  consid- 
ered this  very  bad  taste  on  the  part  of  the  bar- 
barians, but  advised  compliance  ;  "  for,"  he  argued, 
"  when  my  reforms  commence  to  work  they  will 
make  the  nation  strong,  and  we  shall  demand  it 
back  again  with  large  additions."  Wang's  faith, 
however,  did  not  move  the  mountain;  and  the  first 
act  of  the  famous  Empress  Kau,  on  the  death  of 
the  Emperor  Shen  Tsung,  was  to  dismiss  Wang 
from  office,  and  reform  his  reforms. 

The  last  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  years  of 
the  Sung  dynasty  were  filled  with  wars  within  and 
without.  The  hardy  Khitan  Tartars  went  down 
before  their  more  hardy  relatives,  the  Khin  Tartars ; 
and  they  in  turn  were  thoroughly  subjugated  by 
the  Mongol  Tartars  under  the  lead  of  their  famous 
khans,  Genghis  and  Kublai.  To  the  world  at 
large  there  are  not  more  than  five  names  in  all 
Chinese  history  that  come  easily  to  the  lips, — 
these  two  great  khans,  Confucius,  Mencius,  and 
Li  Hung  Chang ;  and  they  belong  to  the  world's 
pantheon  of  history-makers.     Genghis  easily  ranks 


GENGHIS  THE  MONGOL,  89 

with  Alexander  and  Napoleon,  and  the  territories 
he  overran  and  conquered  were  greater  than  the 
combined  areas  and  population  of  the  empires  of 
Alexander  and  Napoleon.  His  life  is  one  of  the 
great  liistorical  romances  of  the  world's  story,  and 
a  romance  in  which  the  chief  actor  never  permits 
the  interest  to  flag.  As  leader  of  the  Mongol 
Tartars  he  swept  everything  from  the  Danube  to 
the  Pacific,  from  the  unbroken  ice  of  the  arctic  to 
the  snow-peaks  of  the  Himalayas,  and  might,  with 
much  more  right  than  Alexander,  have  sighed  for 
more  worlds  to  conquer.  It  is  noteworthy  that  of 
all  the  races  with  which  he  battled,  from  Cracow 
to  Peking,  —  embracing  forty  conquered  kingdoms, 
—  the  only  nation  which  withstood  his  consum- 
mate generalship  was  the  Chinese.  One  cannot 
but  wonder  what  would  have  been  the  fate  of 
Alexander  the  Great  had  he  been  told,  when  he 
stood  on  the  banks  of  the  Indus,  sorrowing  be- 
cause the  world  was  so  small,  that  there  was  an 
empire  north  of  his  greater  than  Persia,  and  more 
warUke  and  richer  than  India.  Genghis,  "  the 
curse  of  God,"  died  at  the  age  of  sixty-six,  in 
1227,  and  bequeathed  the  conquest  of  the  Manchus 
to  his  son.  Okkodai  was  a  worthy  successor  of  a 
great  father.  He  organized  his  armies  for  the 
conquest  of  China  with  ability  and  energy,  and 


90  CHINA'S    OPEN    DOOR. 

laid  siege  to  Kaif ungf u  —  the  Kin  capital,  a 
city  of  11,200,000  inhabitants.  The  investment 
lasted  for  three  months ;  and  so  great  were  the 
numbers  and  resources  within,  that  it  is  a  ques- 
tion if  the  Mongols  could  have  reduced  it  had  the 
Kin  general  been  worthy  of  his  followers.  With 
all  offer  to  surrender  he  sent  to  the  Mongol  gen- 
eral five  hundred  ladies  of  his  king's  court  and 
thirty-seven  of  the  royal  chariots.  The  peace 
offering,  however,  did  not  touch  the  stem  nature 
of  Okkodai,  as  repeated  efforts  of  the  Chinese  to 
reach  the  great  Genghis,  through  woman's  charms, 
had  failed  in  the  past.  He  gave  one  look  at  the 
assemblage  of  beauty,  and  ordered  it  and  the  entire 
city  to  be  put  to  the  sword.  The  Tartar  states- 
man and  the  prime  minister  for  both  Genghis  and 
Okkodai,  —  the  wise  Yeh-lu-chu-tsai,  —  hearing  of 
the  savage  order,  argued  with  the  khan,  "  The 
land  must  have  people  on  it,  for  if  there  are  no 
inhabitants  m  the  country  it  becomes  valueless  to 
the  sovereign."  His  counsel  prevailed,  and  China 
was  saved  from  the  most  gigantic  massacre  in  the 
annals  of  the  world. 

The  capture  of  Kaifungfu,  with  its  incalculable 
wealth,  its  vast  stores  and  magnificent  buildings, 
practically  ended  the  Kin  dynasty,  and  obliterated 
from  history  a  remarkable  race,  who  from  begin- 


THE  MONGOL  CONQUEST.  91 

nings  almost  as  humble  as  a  tribe  of  North  Ameri- 
can Indians,  had  gradually  risen  to  such  might 
that  they  had  conquered  the  warlike  Khitans,  and 
so  completely  possessed  the  northern  part  of  China, 
that  the  Chinese,  with  all  their  vast  resources  and 
their  almost  unlimited  command  of  soldiers,  had 
not  been  able  to  wrest  it  from  them. 

The  Mongols  were  now  free  to  turn  their  entire 
attention  to  the  tottering  Chinese  throne.  To 
Okkadai,  as  to  Genghis,  it  seemed  like  an  over- 
ripe fruit,  that  was  to  be  had  for  the  picking ;  but 
the  Mongol  soon  found  that  he  was  not  dealing 
with  the  Russian  or  the  Persian,  but  with  a  race 
that  knew  neither  defeat  nor  despair.  It  was  not 
for  him  to  give  the  coup  de  grdce  to  the  Sungs. 
In  their  decay  they  held  on  for  sixty  years ;  and, 
had  there  been  any  unity  of  purpose  or  apprecia- 
tion of  events,  it  is  questionable  if  even  Kublai, 
the  mighty  grandson  of  the  mighty  Genghis, 
would  have  succeeded.  The  armies  of  the  Sungs 
fought  well  only  when  they  were  attacked.  The 
court  was  full  of  intrigues,  and  the  national  policy 
was  weak  and  wavering.  One  figurehead  followed 
another  in  rapid  succession,  and  the  different  capi- 
tal cities  were  evacuated  as  the  enemy  advanced. 
Kublai  and  his  great  generals,  Ashu,  Alihaiyai, 
and   Bayan,    pressed    steadily   on.     They    never 


92  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

wavered  in  their  purpose,  they  held  every  advan- 
tage, and  neither  Cliinese  valor  nor  Sung  diplo- 
macy could  check  their  course.  To  the  sitters  on 
the  dragon  throne  the  iron  khan  became  the 
very  impersonation  of  fate.  To  bring  the  two 
years'  siege  of  the  great  city  of  Fanching  in  Hupeh 
to  a  conclusion,  Kublai  sent  to  Persia  for  guns 
heavier  than  had  ever  been  used  in  China,  that 
threw  stones  weighing  over  one  hundred  and  fifty 
pounds.  Yuchang,  Hanyang,  Hankow,  Chiaho- 
how,  and  Nanking  fell  in  rapid  succession;  and 
in  1276  the  Mongols  took  the  capital,  Hangchow, 
with  the  emperor,  his  mother,  his  queen,  and  the 
royal  household,  and  made  the  brothers  of  the 
captured  emperor  fugitives,  the  elder  of  whom, 
however,  was  proclaimed  emperor,  with  his  new 
capital  at  Foochou. 

The  duel  was  nearing  an  end.  For  four  years 
the  royal  standard  of  the  Sungs  was  driven  from 
place  to  place  until  the  last  emperor,  Ti  Ping,  was 
cornered  at  the  seaport  of  Yaishan.  The  Chinese 
force,  consisting  of  fifty  thousand  veterans  and  one 
thousand  war-junks,  under  their  famous  general 
Chang  Shih-kieh,  were  closely  blockaded  by  an 
overwhelmuig  force.  The  death  struggle  lasted 
for  a  month,  and  the  Chinese  fought  like  rats  in  a 
trap,  desperately  but  without  hope.     The  fate  of 


THE  BATTLE  OF  TAISHAN.  93 

the  empire  was  decided  by  a  tremendous  land  and 
sea  attack,  in  which  the  Chinese  were  utterly 
defeated,  'and  the  whole  of  their  fleet  captured 
with  the  exception  of  sixteen  junks  with  which 
their  gallant  general  managed  to  break  through 
the  lines.  When  the  prime  minister  saw  that  the 
day  was  lost,  he  took  the  young  emperor  on  his 
back,  and  sprang  into  the  sea.  The  body  of  Ti 
Ping  was  afterwards  picked  up,  and  honorably 
buried  by  the  Mongol  general.  Over  one  hun- 
dred thousand  Chinese  and  Mongols  were  killed 
in  this  last  heroic  defense  of  the  boy  emperor,  and 
the  dynasty  that  had  ruled  China  for  three  hun- 
dred and  twenty  years,  and  next  to  the  Chow 
was  the  most  famous  in  its  amials,  ended  in  a 
glorious  defeat.  A  Chinese  historian  of  the 
Sungs  said  they  "gained  the  empire  by  the 
sword  and  kept  it  by  kindness.  Their  good- 
ness to  the  people  was  not  tinged  enough 
with  severity,  and  so  the  kingdom  was  snatched 
from  them.  Still,  through  it  the  empire  was  main- 
tained for  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  after  it 
seemed  to  have  slipped  from  their  grasp ;  and  it 
caused  such  men  as  Chang  Shih-kieh  and  Wen 
Tien-siang  to  cling  to  them  to  the  very  last,  and 
finally  to  give  their  very  lives  for  them." 

The  adventures  of  the  loyal  Chang  Shih-kieh 


94  CHINA'S    OPEN    DOOR. 

after  the  battle  of  Yaishan  were  in  keeping  with 
the  great  name  he  has  made  in  Chinese  history. 
With  his  sixteen  junks  he  hastened  to  Wang- 
chow  to  inquire  of  the  queen  dowager  if  there 
remained  any  princes  of  the  royal  blood  under 
whose  standard  the  war  could  be  still  carried  on. 
But  the  mother's  heart  was  broken;  and  she  fol- 
lowed the  example  of  the  last  of  her  sons,  and 
threw  herself  into  the  sea.  Chang  was  unwilling 
to  give  up;  he  sailed  to  Cambodia  and  appealed 
to  its  king  for  troops  and  money ;  but  finding  him- 
self an  unwelcome  visitor,  he  turned  northward 
hoping  to  seize  Canton.  As  his  Uttle  squadron 
was  nearing  the  coast,  signs  of  an  approaching 
typhoon  caused  the  men  to  clamor  that  he  should 
put  into  a  near-by  harbor  and  there  land.  Instead, 
he  ascended  a  platform  high  up  one  of  the  masts  of 
the  flagship,  and  burned  incense  to  heaven,  and 
testified :  "  1  have  served  the  house  of  Chau  to  the 
utmost  of  my  ability;  when  one  emperor  disap- 
peared I  set  up  another,  and  he  also  has  perished ; 
and  now  to-day  I  meet  this  great  storm  ;  surely  it 
must  be  the  will  of  heaven  that  the  Sung  dynasty 
should  perish."  So  he  bravely  met  his  end  in  one 
of  those  fierce  and  terrible  typhoons  that  haunt 
the  China  seas. 

It  was  near  the  end  of  the  Sung  dynasty,  and 


MARCO  POLO.  95 

about  the  time  that  Edward  1.  returned  to  Eng- 
land from  the  Holy  Land,  that  Marco  Polo  visited 
the  court  of  Kublai  Khan,  and  gave  the  European 
world  the  first  authentic  account  of  this  great  un- 
known empire,  and  during  the  reign  of  Mangu, 
Kublai's  successor.  Catholic  missionaries  presented 
themselves  at  court,  and  made  brief  record  of 
what  they  did  and  saw.  Marco  Polo's  account 
of  the  pomp  and  splendor  of  the  Mongol  court,  of 
the  annual  feasts  and  national  holidays,  of  the  in- 
dustries and  advanced  civilization,  filled  Europe 
with  wonder,  and  demonstrated  how  little  the 
Chinese  historians  appreciated  the  true  greatness 
of  their  nation  and  the  nations  that  suiTOunded 
them.  Even  Europe  did  not  realize  the  signifi- 
cance of  Polo's  story,  or  more  justly  speaking 
discovery.  He  told  them  of  the  use  of  bank- 
notes, but  it  took  Europe  four  centuries  to  under- 
stand their  value  to  trade.  Instead  of  stealing 
China's  brains,  Europe  only  coveted  her  money,  a 
mistake  which  Kublai  did  not  make  in  the  case  of 
Marco  Polo,  for  he  made  the  Westerner  his  con- 
fidant, and  drew  upon  him  for  European  ideas  and 
methods.  He  carefully  sifted  the  wheat  from  the 
chaff,  and  planted  it  in  fertile  soil.  Polo  was  a 
man  of  ability  and  action,  and  Kublai  was  quick 
to  appreciate  him.     He  dispatched  him  over  his 


96  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

empire  in  the  capacity  of  a  licenced  critic,  knowing 
that  Polo,  with  his  unprejudiced  eyes,  could  find 
many  administrative  and  political  faults  that  were 
damaging  the  welfare  of  the  people  but  were 
hallowed  by  age  and  custom. '  He  was  a  most  suc- 
cessful critic ;  for  in  his  extended  travels  through 
the  provinces  of  Shansi,  Shensi,  Szechuan,  and 
Yunnan  he  corrected  a  vast  number  of  abuses,  and 
caused  the  removal  of  a  number  of  corrupt  officials, 
yet  he  managed  to  please  alike  the  emperor,  the 
Mandarins,  and  the  people.  As  a  reward  he  was 
appointed  governor  of  the  city  of  Yangchow,  and 
might  have  become  the  viceroy  of  his  province 
had  he  been  willing  to  have  remained  in  China ; 
but  after  three  years  of  gubernatorial  power  he 
grew  homesick,  and  requested  leave  of  absence  to 
visit  Venice.  Kublai  had  no  desire  to  lose  so 
valuable  a  servant,  and  declined  to  grant  his  wish. 
Later,  however,  it  happened  that  the  khan  sent 
him  in  charge  of  a  young  woman,  the  bride  elect 
of  his  great-grandson,  Arghun  Khan  of  Persia. 
The  Mongols  were  entirely  unaccustomed  to  the 
sea,  and  in  the  choice  of  ambassadors  it  was  Hob- 
son's  choice.  Marco  Polo,  his  father,  and  his  uncle 
started  out  on  their  hazardous  undertaking  in 
1292,  and  after  a  three  years'  voyage  they  de- 
livered the  bride  to  the  anxious  groom.    If  we  are 


KUBLAI  KHAN,  97 

to  read  between  the  lines  in  Marco's  narrative,  it 
is  doubtful  if  she  gave  more  than  an  unwilling 
hand  to  her  royal  spouse. 

Marco  Polo's  life  and  adventures  in  China  are 
as  interesting  reading  as  the  account  of  a  trip  to 
the  moon  could  possibly  be  to-day.  China,  as 
late  as  1300,  was  almost  as  much  of  a  terra  in- 
cognito as  the  continent  of  America  was  when 
Columbus  landed  on  its  shores.  His  narrative  is 
the  first  view  of  China  through  European  eyes ; 
and,  unfortunately,  it  was  considered  at  the  time 
a  fairy  story  rather  than  a  sober  recount  of  facts. 
Marco  Polo's  career  in  this  unknown  empire  forci- 
bly reminds  one  of  Mark  Twain's  humorous  ad- 
ventures of  a  Yankee  in  the  court  of  King  Arthur, 
with  the  difference  that  Marco  came  in  contact 
with  a  civihzation  that  was  in  many  respects  su- 
perior to  his  own,  and  with  a  ruler  who,  other  than 
being  a  feudal  baron,  was  a  statesman,  a  soldier, 
and  a  patron  of  literature.  As  Genghis  had  found 
it  impossible  to  subdue  the  Chinese,  his  more 
famous  successor  and  grandson,  Kublai,  had  to 
acknowledge  his  inability  to  annex  the  Japanese 
Islands.  Two  great  expeditions  met  with  most 
disastrous  defeat ;  and  the  iiiler  of  Asia  and  half 
of  Europe  recognized  that,  however  victorious  his 
veterans  were  on  land,  they  were  useless  on  the 


98  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

sea.  In  religious  matters  Kublai  was  absolutely 
impartial.  His  subjects,  Mongol  or  Chinese,  were 
permitted  freedom  of  worship  as  long  as  their  faith 
was  moral;  and  as  for  himself  he  worshiped  by 
turns  in  Buddhist,  Confucian,  and  Mohammedan 
temples;  Marco  Polo  tells  us  that  he  likewise 
favored  the  Christian  religion.  As  for  the  Tao- 
ists,  they  were  so  openly  corrupt  and  fraudulent  that 
Kublai  ordered  a  public  examination  to  ascertain 
whether  there  was  any  truth  in  their  writings  on 
geomancy,  necromancy,  and  astrology.  As  a  result 
of  which  he  ordered  that  all  their  books  be 
burned,  save  one  classic  —  "  The  Tau-teh,  or  Way 
of  Virtue."  Kublai's  religious  attitude  might  have 
been  simply  a  matter  of  state  policy ;  but  even  so, 
it  did  much  to  consolidate  his  power  for  the 
benefit  of  his  family,  which  was  the  aim  of  his 
life.  The  khan  profited  by  the  experience  of  his 
many  unfortunate  predecessors,  and  acknowledged 
the  fatality  of  wasting  the  resources  of  the  empire 
on  court  orgies,  great  retinues  of  dependants  and 
concubines.  Instead,  he  built  the  Grand  Canal 
(1282-1289),  which  connected  Canton  with  Pe- 
king, and  also  a  system  of  splendid  post-roads, 
that  were  not  only  a  lasting  benefit  to  the  people, 
but  of  great  strategic  value. 

Once  a  year  Kublai  took  a  vacation,  and  es- 


THE  LAST  OF   THE  MONGOLS        99 

caped  the  hot  climate  of  the  lowlands  and  the 
enervating  ceremonials  of  court  life  by  a  hunting 
expedition  on  the  cool,  bracing  steppes  of  Tartary. 
He  was  a  fearless  hunter  and  a  most  skillful 
hawker;  and  he  kept  his  muscles  hardened  and 
his  health  unimpaired  to  the  day  of  his  death,  at 
the  age  of  eighty-three,  in  1224.  He  was  suc- 
ceeded by  his  grandson,  Timur,  who  inherited  an 
empire  that  extended  from  the  China  Sea  and  the 
Indies  to  the  northern  extremity  of  Siberia,  and 
from  the  eastern  shores  of  Asia  to  the  frontiers 
of  Poland  —  the  most  magnificent  heritage  that 
ever  fell  to  man. 

For  seventy-three  years  the  Mongols  ruled 
China;  but  the  successors  of  Kublai  lacked  his 
knowledge  of  men  and  measures;  and  their  at- 
tempts to  trample  out  Chinese  customs,  and  de- 
prive them  of  their  share  in  the  government  of 
the  country,  soon  alienated  the  friends  made  by 
the  founder  of  the  Yuen  dynasty;  the  country 
was  quickly  filled  with  rebellion,  and  the  court 
with  intrigue  and  corruption.  Shunti,  the  ninth 
and  last  of  the  Mongols,  reigfned  from  1331  to 
1366.  He  left  the  actual  administration  of  gov- 
ernment to  his  ministers,  and  gave  himself  up  to 
the  joys  of  doing  nothing  gracefully.  He  even 
neglected   the   annual   hunt,  and  was   a   typical 


100  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR, 

sample  of  the  usual  end  of  a  dynasty.  The  logi- 
cal time  seemed  to  have  arrived  for  the  overthrow 
of  the  Tartars,  and  all  that  the  sporadic  rebellion 
needed  was  a  leader  to  make  it  succeed. 

In  the  province  of  Nanking  the  son  of  a  poor 
laborer,  who  had  taken  priestly  vows,  was  watch- 
ing the  trend  of  events  from  his  monastery  cell. 
He  soon  realized  what  the  Chinese  lacked,  and 
made  up  his  mind  that  he  was  the  man  chosen  by 
God  to  deliver  the  country  from  its  oppressors. 
Casting  aside  his  cowl  for  the  sword,  he  sprang 
into  the  breach,  and  organized  a  rebelhon  that 
swept  every  thing  before  him.  With  Nanking  as 
his  capital,  he  gradually  stripped  the  Mongol  em- 
peror of  his  possessions,  until  he  was  able  to 
march  into  Peking  practically  unopposed.  He  de- 
clared himself  emperor,  under  the  title  of  Taitsu, 
in  1368.  Shunti  fled  to  Tartary,  the  home  of  his 
great  ancestors,  and  the  Ming  dynasty  (1368- 
1644)  was  ushered  in. 

Like  the  founders  of  each  successive  djmasty, 
Taitsu,  or  Hung  Wu  as  he  was  better  known  in 
history,  was  a  strong  man  and  an  eminent  ruler. 
He  had  not  only  to  effectually  crush  the  Tartar 
power,  quell  local  disturbances,  but  what  was 
more  serious,  replace  Tartar  laws  and  customs 
with  the  original  Chinese.     On  the  whole  he  was 


THE  MINGS,  101 

successful.  He  commenced  in  the  orthodox  way 
of  razing  the  most  magnificent  buildings  of  his 
predecessors,  reducing  the  size  of  his  harem,  and 
cutting  down  all  unnecessary  expenses.  He  en- 
couraged education,  and  made  literary  degrees 
essential  to  official  promotion  instead  of  military 
renown  as  under  Mongol  rule.  He  reestablished 
Hanlin  College,  and  made  it  in  fact  what  it  is  in 
name  to-day,  the  Oxford  of  China.  He  decreed 
that  women  should  no  longer  become  priestesses 
to  Buddha  and  that  no  man  should  take  monastic 
vows  under  the  age  of  forty.  Hung  Wu  reigned 
thirty-one  years ;  and  although  the  last  few  years 
were  tarnished  by  unjust  and  savage  acts,  the 
glory  of  his  name  is  safe  in  Cliinese  annals. 
There  is  no  fixed  rule  of  primogeniture  among 
the  Chinese.  An  emperor  is  supposed  to  know 
more  about  the  ability  and  character  of  his  several 
sons  and  grandsons  than  any  one  else,  and  he  is 
left  perfectly  free  to  choose  his  successor.  This 
practice,  as  proven  by  the  history  of  China,  has 
little  to  recommend  it,  as  the  choice  is  either  made 
in  the  emperor's  dotage,  or  is  forced  upon  him  by 
intriguing  ministers  or  concubines.  The  founder 
of  the  Ming  Dynasty,  instead  of  securing  the 
stability  of  his  own  house  by  nominating  his  war- 
rior son,  the   Prince   of   Yen,  succumbed  to  the 


102  CHINA'S    OPEN   DOOR. 

cabals  of  his  court,  and  chose  his  sixteen-year-old 
grandson,  Hwei  Ti,  his  successor.  There  are 
only  two  ways  to  the  throne  in  China,  revolution 
or  birth  coupled  with  luck ;  but  the  favorite  way 
to  reach  royal  power  has  always  been  the  securing 
of  the  appointment  of  children  to  the  royal  yel- 
low. The  mother  then  is  doubly  empress :  she 
commands  the  king  through  her  motherhood,  and 
the  people  by  means  of  her  regency.  The  boy 
emperor  is  as  much  her  slave  as  his  meanest 
subject.  The  Prince  of  Yen,  however,  had  no  in- 
tention of  seeing  the  throne  go  uncontested  to  his 
young  nephew,  and  he  himself  become  the  subject 
of  his  sister-in-law.  The  young  emperor  was  no 
match  for  the  fearless  soldier;  and  within  four 
years  Peking  was  in  the  hands  of  Yen,  the  queen 
cremated  in  her  own  palace,  and  the  boy  emperor 
a  refugee  in  a  Buddhist  monastery  in  Yunnan, 
where  for  forty  years  he  remained  undiscovered. 
A  weakness  for  writing  poetry,  however,  caused 
his  recognition ;  and  he  was  transferred  to  Peking, 
where  he  died  a  state  piisoner.  It  is  unfortunate 
that  his  poetry  was  not  equal  to  his  theme ;  for 
the  glories  and  miseries  of  his  own  strange  career 
supplied  a  subject  that  with  skillful  handling  might 
have  made  his  name  imperishable,  and  would  have 
been  of  untold  value  to  the  historian. 


TAMERLANE.  103 

The  Prince  of  Yen,  who  took  the  name  Yunglo, 
changed  the  seat  of  government  from  Nanking  to 
Peking.  In  spite  of  his  early  cruelties  and  bar- 
barous reprisals,  he  was,  on  the  whole,  a  strong 
character,  and  his  country  prospered  at  home  and 
abroad.  He  has  left,  however,  the  reputation  for 
great  moderation  and  justice  in  administering  the 
affairs  of  government.  In  the  field  he  was  always 
the  soldier,  grim  and  unforgiving.  The  Tartars 
learned  to  fear  his  northern  marches,  and  he 
added  Tonquin  and  Cochin  China  to  the  empire. 
Under  his  direction  a  commission  was  appointed 
to  compile  the  first  encyclopaedia  of  literature. 
It  was  completed  in  1407,  and  consisted  of  22,877 
books,  besides  a  table  of  contents  which  filled  sixty 
volumes.  Two  years  previous  died  the  most 
dangerous  enemy  of  the  dynasty,  the  Tartar  Khan 
Timour,  or  Tamerlane  ("  Timur  the  Lame "), 
whose  conquests  almost  equaled  those  of  the 
resistless  Genghiz.  He  was  at  the  time  of  his 
death  organizing  a  vast  army  for  the  reconquest  of 
China,  and  it  is  questionable  whether  Yunglo  the 
Ming  emperor  would  have  been  able  to  withstand 
his  hardy  legions  and  consummate  generalship. 

Timour  is  to-day  a  greater  hero  in  Mongol  eyes 
than  either  of  his  two  great  predecessors.  About 
the  fire,  when   a  dozen  Mongols  are  gathered  to- 


104  '         CHINA'S    OPEN    BOOR. 

gether  on  the  wild  steppes,  their  bards  still  sing 
his  praises  — 

"We  live  in  our  vast  plains  tranquil  and  peaceful  as  sheep, 

yet  our 
Hearts  are  fervent  and  full  of  life  ;  the  memory  of  the  golden 

age  of 
Timour  is  ever  present  to  our  minds.     Where  is  the  chief  who 

is  to  place 
Himself  at  our  head,  and  render  us  once  more  great  warriors  ? 
O  great  Timour,  will  thy  divine  soul  soon  revive  ? 
Return,  return  ;  we  await  thee,  O  Timour  !  " 

Timour's  death  relieved  China  forever  from  fear 
of  Tartar  subjugation,  but  never  during  the  entire 
Ming  dynasty  was  the  nation  free  from  the  ravages 
of  these  daring  freebooters.  They  were  often  suc- 
cessful, and  at  one  time  slaughtered  over  a  hundred 
thousand  soldiers,  and  captured  the  Chinese  Em- 
peror Changtung.  While  the  Chinese  were 
battling  with  their  hereditary  enemies,  and  the 
history  of  the  vast  empire  was  doing  little  more 
than  sluggishly  repeating  itself,  Columbus  was 
discovering  America,  and  the  Portuguese  were 
rounding  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  Rafael  Pres- 
tello,  a  lieutenant  of  Albuquerque,  landed,  in 
1516,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Canton  River,  a  few 
mibs  from  the  present  site  of  Hong  Kong.  His 
was  the  distinction  of  first  flying  a  European  flag 
in  Chinese  waters.      Prestello,  however,  was  more 


A   PORTUGUESE  INVASION.  105 

modest  than  his  contemporary  Spanish,  Portu- 
guese, and  English  discoverers  in  America,  and 
failed  to  take  possession  of  all  the  countries  washed 
by  the  ocean  that  lapped  the  coast  in  the  name  of 
his  august  sovereign.  It  was  a  momentous 
theatrical  opportunity  lost.  With  perfect  impunity 
he  might  have  unfurled  the  Lusitanian  banner  on 
Chinese  soil,  raised  his  trusted  blade  above  the 
damp  plumes  of  his  helmet,  and  laid  claim  to  an 
empire  greater  than  all  Europe,  and  containing 
more  wealth  than  the  newly  discovered  Indies. 
Instead  of  writing  himself  immortal,  Prestello 
sailed  calmly  back  to  Malacca  and  simply  reported 
favorably  on  the  prospective  trade  opportunities 
of  the  new  land.  This  led  to  the  dispatch  of 
Perez  de  Andrade  for  Canton  with  a  squadron  of 
eight  vessels.  His  arrival  and  subsequent  trading 
operations  were  of  much  more  importance  to  China 
in  European  eyes  than  it  was  to  the  Chinese,  in 
fact  his  arrival  is  not  even  noted  in  Chinese  his- 
tory. The  behavior  of  himself  and  his  nationals 
was  such  that  the  new  comers  were  rightfully 
styled  "  foreign  devils  "  —  a  term  of  opprobrium 
that  is  still  applied  to  all  foreigners.  They  rifled 
tombs,  invaded  temples,  robbed,  pirated,  and  acted 
upon  the  same  lines  as  did  Cortez  in  Mexico  and 
Pizarro  in  Peru  ;  but  unfortunately  for  them  they 


106  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

soon  found  that  they  were  dealing  with  a  race  that 
knew  how  to  treat  "Tartars,"  and  the  pirate 
Andrade  was  arrested,  and  beheaded  at  Peking  by 
the  order  of  the  Emperor  Chiaching.  Four  hun- 
dred years  of  commerce  and  intercourse  with 
European  nations  have  not  been  sufficient  to  correct 
the  impression  of  foreigners  that  was  obtained  from 
these  early  Portuguese  "  navigators."  The  career 
of  Fernan  Mendez  Pinto  richly  merits  the  castiga- 
tion  it  received  from  the  pens  of  Cervantes  and 
Congreve.  These  Christian  pirates  virtually  closed 
the  door  in  China;  and  it  has  taken  four  centuries, 
with  an  expense  of  millions  of  treasure  and 
thousands  of  lives  to  force  it  open  ever  so  little. 
It  certainly  seems  like  a  judgment  that  little 
Macao,  with  its  shallow  harbor,  should  represent 
all  that  Portugal  realized  from  its  vast  primal 
opportunities.  The  Chinese  empire  was  not  ori- 
ginally a  hermit  nation.  It  was  never  a  seafaring 
one;  it  had  for  centuries  carried  on  free  trade 
with  all  the  nations  that  touched  its  frontiers, 
and  would  have  welcomed  the  European  tradei- 
and  enriched  him  had  he  but  come  honestly,  and 
respected  the  laws  and  customs  he  found.  An 
empire  of  four  hundred  millions,  trained  in  war, 
and  inured  to  every  form  of  military  service,  was 
no  mark  for  a  few  shiploads   of  piratical  adven- 


MACAO  107 

turers.  The  Chinese  promptly  punished  them  for 
their  misdeeds ;  and  the  Portuguese  embassy  of 
1520  was  sent  under  custody  from  Peking  to 
Canton,  where  Perez,  its  chief,  was  thrown  into 
prison,  and  ultimately  disappeared.  The  Portu- 
guese government  did  not  resent  this  high-handed 
act,  and  as  a  result  the  numerous  foreign  embassies 
that  humbly  knocked  at  the  gates  of  the  "  Pink 
City  "  were  treated  with  contempt  and  cruelty. 

The  Portuguese  were  permitted  to  exist  on  the 
rocky  peninsula  of  Macao,  much  as  a  pariah  dog  is 
tolerated  at  the  back-door.  It  was  not  until  1887 
that  Macao  was  formally  recognized  as  Portuguese 
territory  by  China,  or  more  than  forty  years  after 
the  occupation  of  Hong  Kong  by  the  British. 
To-day  the  beautiful  old  city,  which  resembles  a 
page  out  of  the  Spain  of  Columbus,  is  hardly 
more  than  a  health  resort  for  the  busy  merchants 
of  the  near-by  British  colony.  The  modern  steamer 
cannot  get  within  three  miles  of  its  picturesque 
roadstead,  and  the  grotto  of  the  poet  Camoens 
and  the  fantan  tables  are  of  more  profit  than  its 
custom-house.  In  all  these  centuries  it  has  not 
added  one  acre  of  ground  to  its  holdings,  and  the 
ancient  wall  across  the  narrow  sandy  isthmus  still 
separates  the  vegetating  civilization  of  Portugal 
from  the  vegetating  civilization  of  China. 


108  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

It  may  be  that  there  were  good  Portuguese  in 
China  besides  the  famous  missionary  Xavier  and 
Michael  Roger,  but  if  so  they  suffered  for  the 
iniquities  of  their  compatriots.  It  was  not  until 
the  great  Ricci,  missionary,  scholar,  and  clock- 
maker,  arrived  in  1582  that  any  foreigner  was  per- 
mitted to  enter  the  walls  of  Peking.  Spanish 
missionaries  from  Manila  attempted  without  suc- 
cess to  impress  the  Chinese  with  the  falsity  of  their 
native  religious  belief ;  but  after  one  visit  they  gave 
the  project  up,  and  returned  to  their  more  congenial 
field.  They  found  it  quite  a  different  thing  to 
convert  a  nation  by  argument  than  to  convert 
them  at  the  point  of  the  sword.  They  were 
unable  to  put  into  operation  in  China  the  revival 
methods  practiced  by  the  holy  Catholic  church 
in  South  America,  Mexico,  and  the  Philippine 
Islands.  If  we  are  to  judge  from  results  in  com- 
paring the  condition  of  the  Chinese  with  the 
Filipinos  of  to-day  it  is  perhaps  fortunate  that 
the  Spanish  missionaries  did  not  obtain  a  foothold 
in  the  Celestial  empire.  If  there  be  any  choice  I 
prefer  an  honest  pagan  to  a  lying  Christian ;  for  it 
was  not  long  before  the  Spanish  in  the  Philippines 
gave  the  Chinese  an  object  lesson  that  must  have 
made  them  smile  at  the  white  man's  creed  of 
"  Peace    on  earth,  and  good  will  towards  men." 


THE   MISSIONARIES.  109 

For  no  other  reason  save  the  Spanish  fear 
that  too  many  Chinese  were  settling  in  their 
islands,  they  ordered  a  general  massacre  of  the 
unoffending  settlers,  and  slaughtered  over  twenty 
thousand  of  them  at  one  time.  It  is  little  to  be 
wondered  at  that  in  the  face  of  the  action  of  the 
so-styled  Christian  Spanish,  and  so-called  Christian 
Portuguese  in  Malacca,  that  even  the  brilliant  John 
Adam  Schall,  who  was  revered  by  the  Ming 
emperors  for  his  astronomical  learning,  made  little 
headway  in  enlisting  converts.  From  1628  to  the 
day  of  his  death  in  prison,  1666,  Schall  worked 
with  untiring  zeal  for  his  faith,  and  never  missed 
an  opportunity  to  preach  the  word  to  all  who 
would  listen.  "Why  do  you  so  much  trouble 
yourselves,"  the  Emperor  Kangsi  asked  him, 
"  about  a  world  which  you  have  never  entered?" 
and  intimated  that  he  had  better  devote  his  time 
to  "  making  friends  with  the  mammon  of  unright- 
eousness." Under  the  leadership  of  such  men  as 
Ricci  and  Schall  the  Catholics  would  have  made 
some  permanent  progress  had  the  different  reli- 
gious bodies  been  content  to  work  together  for  the 
general  good ;  but  this  seemed  impossible.  Jesuits 
and  Dominicans  quarreled  openly,  and  spent  then- 
opportunities  in  undermining  each  other's  efforts, 
until  Kangsi  seemed  justified  in  asking  them  to 


110  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

make  up  their  own  minds  as  to  their  own  teachings 
before  trying  to  become  teachers. 

China  has  always  been  a  favorite  ground  for 
missionary  endeavor.  Save  at  exceptional  periods 
the  perils  of  life  and  health  are  no  greater 
in  China  than  in  other  sections  of  the  earth, 
while  the  pleasure  and  comfort  of  living  is  im- 
mensely superior  to  most  parts  of  Africa,  to 
the  Western  territories  of  the  United  States,  or 
the  frozen  regions  of  the  arctic.  Missionaries 
of  all  denominations  live  in  well-built  houses, 
and  are  waited  upon  by  native  servants  who 
are  learning  the  EngHsh  language.  They  take 
trips  home  every  two  or  three  years,  at  one- 
half  the  regular  passenger  rates,  and  manage  to 
lay  aside  a  little  money.  Their  own  children  are 
often  educated  at  the  expense  of  their  home 
societies,  but  the  great  difficulty  to  their  progress 
has  always  been  an  inability  to  live  contentedly 
with  one  another.  They  can  make  friends  with 
the  Chinese,  but  for  members  of  two  rival  mis- 
sionary bodies  to  mix  seems  impossible.  Even 
while  writing  this  book  I  had  a  case  reported  to 
me  from  Swatow,  where  the  quarrel  between  the 
Protestant  American  missionaries  and  the  Chinese 
French  missionaries  had  become  so  intense  that 
we  considered  the   advisability  of  sending  a  war- 


SCOUTS   OF  CIVILIZATION.  Ill 

ship  to  Swatow  and  asking  Minister  Conger 
to  lay  the  case  before  the  Tsung  li  Yumen, 
or  foreign  office  of  China.  When  the  missionary, 
like  Ricci,  devotes  himself  to  translating  works 
on  Western  science  into  Chinese,  or  like  Schall 
rearranges  the  Imperial  Calendar,  and  instructs 
the  literati  in  the  use  of  geometrical  and 
astronomical  instruments,  or  like  the  modern 
medical  missionary  sets  a  leg  or  preaches 
sanitary  law,  then  the  missionary  soon  makes 
a  place  for  himself,  and  the  amount  of  good 
he  can  do  is  only  limited  by  his  ability  for 
hard  labor.  Such  men  are  the  scouts  of  civiliza- 
tion, the  "  drummers "  of  commerce,  and  deserve 
every  encouragement  and  help ;  but  there  is  a 
class  of  missionary  that  spoils  the  field,  and  brings 
contempt  upon  the  nation  sending  them  forth  to 
Christianize.  They  are  forever  quarreling  with 
the  Chinese,  thinking  more  of  standing  on  "  treaty 
rights"  than  of  obtaining  the  good-will  of  the 
people  about  them,  insisting  on  erecting  a 
chapel  on  ground  that  is  sacred  to  some 
ancestral  temple,  trampling  upon  old  customs, 
appealing  for  protection,  and  sending  up,  through 
missionary  journals,  long  wails  over  their  trials 
and  hardships.  Every  American  and  British  con- 
sul in  China  can  supply  dozens  of  cases  on  both 


112  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR, 

sides  of  the  shield  to  verify  my  experience,  but 
we  have  long  since  found  that  it  is  useless  to 
publish  them.  We  can  only  hope  that  the  de- 
voted labors  of  the  many  earnest  men  will  tri- 
umph in  the  end,  and  that  Christianity  will  be  a 
mighty  factor  in  settling  the  vexed  Chinese  ques- 
tion. 

In  1566  Chiaching  became  a  guest  on  high  in 
spite  of  his  vain  attempt  to  obtain  immortality  by 
means  of  elixirs  and  Taoist  charms.  His  life  had 
not  been  so  agreeable  that  one  would  think  he 
would  have  wished  to  perpetuate  it.  His  reign 
of  forty-five  years  was  filled  with  domestic  out- 
breaks and  wars  with  the  Mongols  and  Japanese, 
the  latter  of  whom  at  one  time  were  so  successful 
that  they  held  Ningpo,  Shanghai,  and  Soochow. 
Although  Chiaching  effectually  defeated  the 
Japanese  in  1563,  neither  he  nor  his  successors 
were  able  to  free  the  coast  from  their  periodical 
visitations;  and  in  1592  a  force  under  the  com- 
mand of  the  famous  leader  and  subsequent  Sho- 
gun  Hideyoshi  invaded  Korea  and  captured  Seoul. 
In  spite  of  their  successes  they  were  not  destined 
to  obtain  any  firm  foothold  on  the  continent,  and 
retired  to  their  islands  much  as  they  did  in  1894, 
for  diplomatic  reasons.  In  fact,  there  are  many 
acts  and  movements  in  the  Japanese  invasion  of 


THE   LAST  OF   THE   MINGS.  113 

Korea  in  1592  that  closely  resemble  their  descent 
three  hundred  years  later. 

The  reigns  of  the  last  three  Ming  sovereigns, 
from  1673  to  1644,  were  mainly  taken  up  with 
their  combats  with  the  rising  Manchu  tribes.  It 
was  during  this  period  that  the  Dutch  made  their 
appearance  by  way  of  Formosa.  They  took  pos- 
session of  the  Pescadores,  and  landed  at  Amoy, 
from  whence  they  penetrated  as  far  as  Chang 
Chow  and  Halting.  The  Dutch  at  the  time  were 
at  war  with  both  the  Spanish  and  Portuguese ; 
their  trading-ships  went  heavily  armed,  and  sailed 
as  much  for  prizes  as  for  trade.  They  defeated 
the  Portuguese  armament,  captured  Malacca  and 
the  Spice  Islands,  and  in  1622  made  an  attack  on 
Macao.  Being  repulsed,  with  the  loss  of  their 
admiral,  they  returned  to  the  Pescadores  in  a 
frame  of  mind  that  led  easily  to  a  quarrel  with 
the  Chinese ;  and  in  the  engagements  that  subse- 
quently took  place  on  the  mainland,  they  were 
invariably  worsted,  and  eventually  compelled  to 
retreat  to  Formosa.  Like  their  predecessors  the 
Portuguese,  they  left  a  bad  impression  on  the 
Chinese  mind,  and  by  their  rapacity  and  cruelty 
missed  an  opportunity  of  making  HoUand  a  world 
power. 

In  1596  Queen  Elizabeth  dispatched  a  small 


114  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

fleet  under  Benjamin  Wood,  with  letters  to  the 
emperor  of  China,  but  they  never  reached  their 
destination;  and  not  another  attempt  was  made 
until  1637,  when  Captain  Weddell  succeeded  in 
reaching  Macao.  The  expedition,  however,  came 
to  nothing  through  the  jealousy  of  the  Portuguese 
and  the  Jesuit  missionaries,  who  egged  on  the 
Chinese  to  drive  the  English  ship  from  the  coast. 
The  Chinese  fired  without  warning,  and  were  well 
punished  by  the  sturdy  old  mariner ;  but  although 
the  Chinese  were  compelled  to  permit  Weddell  to 
purchase  fuU  cargoes  for  his  squadron,  the  out- 
look was  not  promising ;  and  this  fact,  combined 
with  the  great  hazards  to  shipping,  because  of 
the  civil  wars  in  England  and  the  war  with 
Holland,  stopped  all  commercial  ventures  for  a 
quarter  of  a  century. 


THE  MANCHU  DTNASTT.  115 


VL 


THE  RISE   OF   THE  MANCHU 
DTNASTT. 

[A.  D.  1676-1722.] 

CHINA  has  never  for  a  moment,  in  its  long 
and  eventful  history,  lost  its  individuality. 
The  so-called  conquest  of  the  empire  by 
Tartars,  Mongols,  and  Manchus  proved  in  the  end 
to  be  little  more  than  a  forced  infusion  of  new- 
blood  into  the  old  and  worn-out  life.  The  Man- 
chus, like  the  Mongols,  the  Kins,  and  the  Khitans, 
came  from  the  north.  China's  great  walls  are  on 
the  northern  frontier,  and  all  her  great  battles 
have  been  fought  on  the  line  between  the  empire 
as  it  exists  to-day  and  Manchurian  Siberia.  The 
bones  of  countless  armies  lie  on  both  sides  of  this 
shifting  line  ;  and  the  Great  Wall  might  stand  as 
the  most  gigantic  gravestone  in  history.  China 
has  never  been  successfully  invaded  from  the 
south.  Russia  is  to-day  in  the  north,  France  on 
the  southern  frontier.  Russia  is  advancing  on  the 
line  of  Kublai  Khan  and  Nurhachu,  and  who  will 


116  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

dare  to  predict  what  the  next  few  yeai-s  will 
develop  ? 

Nurhachu  was  the  Kublai  Khan  of  the  new 
power  which  to-day  rules  the  destinies  of  the 
empire.  Like  Kublai  he  welded  into  a  centralized 
power  all  the  scattered  tribes  of  his  race  who 
covered  the  territories  from  the  Great  Wall  to  the 
Amoor,  but  unlike  Kublai  he  himseK  never  sat  on 
the  coveted  throne.  His  ambition  probably  would 
have  been  satisfied  with  the  recognized  leadership 
of  his  own  people,  had  not  the  Chinese  emperor, 
Wanli,  interfered  by  supporting  a  rival  chief. 
His  first  engagement  with  the  dreaded  imperial 
troops  taught  him  the  superiority  of  his  own 
veterans,  and  aroused  him  to  the  fullness  of  his 
own  genius.  He  boldly  entered  the  Liaotung 
peninsula,  and  signally  defeated  an  army  of  a 
hundred  thousand.  After  successfully  crushing 
one  army  after  another  he  made  Moukden  his 
capital,  where  he  died  the  following  year,  1626, 
in  the  sixty-eighth  year  of  his  age. 

So  far  the  rise  of  the  Manchus  had  been  much 
like  the  rise  of  the  Mongols,  —  a  small  army  of 
veterans,  led  by  a  soldier  of  ability  with  a  clearly 
defined  object,  was  advancing  with  unerring  step 
through  a  half-hearted,  badly  organized,  and  poorly 
commanded  mob.     The  Chinese  emperor  seemed 


INTRODUCTION  OF  THE  ^UEUE.  117 

to  feel  that  fate  was  crowding  him ;  and  when  the 
Portuguese  envoy  from  Macao  offered  to  come  to 
his  rescue  with  two  hundred  arquebusiers,  he 
gladly  accepted  the  loan.  The  two  hundred  men 
who  were  to  succor  an  army  of  two  hundred  thou- 
sand marched  across  the  empire  from  Macao  to 
Peking,  and  were  there  told  by  Wanli,  who  had 
for  the  moment  recovered  from  his  "  funk,"  that 
they  might  leave  their  guns  and  return,  which 
they  did  at  their  own  expense,  and  without  a 
than^  you.  One  cannot  but  speculate  as  to  what 
would  have  been  the  result  had  Texeira's  little 
force  been  allowed  to  go  to  the  front.  It  was  not 
until  two  centuries  later  that  China  again  ac- 
cepted the  loan  of  a  foreign  force  to  save  the 
royal  descendants  of  Nurhachu  from  the  rebel- 
lious Taipings.  Chinese  historians  incidentally 
note  that  it  was  the  custom  of  the  Chinese  in- 
habitants of  conquered  [cities  to  shave  their  heads 
in  token  of  submission  to  their  new  masters. 
This  is  the  first  mention  of  the  now  universal 
custom  of  the  wearing  of  the  queue  by  the 
Chinese. 

Nurhachu  was  succeeded  by  his  fourth  son, 
Tientsung,  who  at  once  undertook  the  conquest  of 
Korea,  and  in  1629,  at  the  head  of  over  a  hundred 
thousand  men,  began  the  victorious  march  into 


118  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR, 

China,  which  ended  disastrously  before  the  very 
walls  of  Peking.  The  last  of  the  Mings,  Chwang 
Lich  Ti,  was,  however,  fated,  although  he  did  sur- 
vive the  Manchu  chief,  Tientsung,  and  compelled 
him  to  retire  into  Mongolia.  Two  formidable  re- 
bellions, headed  by  two  powerful  leaders,  Li  and 
Chang,  were  distracting  the  provinces.  Li  practi- 
cally reduced  the  great  states  of  Shensi,  Shansi, 
and  Honam,  and  felt  himself  of  enough  importance 
in  1644  to  proclaim  himself  emperor  of  China, 
and  organize  a  government.  From  Tung  Wan,  Li 
marched  on  Peking,  capturing  all  the  important 
cities  on  the  way.  The  emperor  made  no  deter- 
mined stand ;  and  after  a  feeble  attempt  to  escape 
he  hanged  himself  by  his  own  girdle  to  a  tree, 
leaving  behind  a  pathetic  note :  "  My  virtue  is 
small,  and  therefore  I  have  incurred  the  anger  of 
heaven,  and  so  the  rebels  have  captured  my 
capital.  Let  them  disfigure  my  corpse,  but  don't 
let  them  kill  one  of  my  people."  The  tree  on 
which  he  hanged  himself  was  afterwards  loaded 
with  chains  in  token  of  the  crime  it  had  com- 
mitted in  being  instrumental  to  the  death  of  a 
son  of  heaven. 

Among  the  court  officials  who  hastened  to  pay 
their  homage  to  the  usurper  was  Wu,  the  father 
of  the  celebrated  imperial  general,  Wu  Sankwei, 


THE  BEAUTIFUL   SLAVE   GIRL.     119 

who  commanded  the  impregnable  fortress  of  Ning- 
yuen,  which  had  defied  the  power  of  all  the  armies 
of  the  Manchus,  and  had  saved  Peking  from  both 
Nurhachu  and  Tientsung.  The  son  Wu,  with  an 
army  of  veterans,  was  on  his  way  to  the  capital 
when  Peking  fell,  when  he  received  a  letter  from 
his  father  urging  him  to  submit  to  Li.  Sankwei 
was  on  the  point  of  obeying  his  father's  com- 
mands, and  about  to  tender  his  allegiance  to  Li, 
when  he  heard  that  a  beautiful  slave-girl  belonging 
to  him  had  been  seized,  and  presented  to  one  of  Li's 
officers.  Sankwei  loved  the  girl ;  and  in  his  love 
he  forgot  filial  obedience,  his  own  future,  and  the 
safety  of  his  family.  This  slave-girl,  who  is  his- 
torically nameless,  gave  the  present  dynasty  its 
throne.  But  for  her  the  Manchus  would  have 
remained  to  this  day  a  league  of  scattered  tribes 
of  malcontents  on  the  frontier  of  China.  Sank- 
wei never  saw  her  again;  but  he  burned  on  her 
grave  a  dynasty,  a  city,  and  gave  a  vast  empire  to 
a  small  body  of  foreigners.  The  queue  that  every 
Chinaman  wears  might  justly  be  claimed  as  a 
badge  of  mourning  for  the  beautiful  slave-girl  of 
the  general,  Sankwei.  In  his  grief  and  anger  he 
wrote  two  letters  that  sealed  the  fate  of  Li  and 
of  Chinese  nationality —  one  upbraiding  his  father 
for  not  protecting  his  mistress,  the  other  to  Dor- 


120  CHINA'S   OPEN  BOOR. 

gun,  the  Manchu  regent,  inviting  him  to  join  him 
in  the  subjugation  of  the  empire.  The  Manchus 
did  not  hesitate,  but  pushed  their  army  forward 
by  forced  marches  to  a  junction  with  Sankwei.  Li, 
astonished  at  the  turn  of  affairs,  and  determined 
to  crush  the  man  who  dared  dispute  his  title, 
advanced  rapidly  with  two  hundred  thousand 
picked  infantry  and  twenty  thousand  cavalry.  In 
the  front  line  he  marched  the  aged  father  of  Sank- 
wei, who  by  all  decrees  of  Confucius,  Sankwei 
was  bound  to  obey,  even  to  the  sacrifice  of  his 
own  life  and  honor.  The  father  not  only  ordered, 
but  pleaded  with  him  to  submit ;  but  the  vision  of 
the  outraged  girl  steeled  the  heart  of  his  son,  and 
he  stood  helpless  while  his  father  was  murdered 
before  his  eyes.  The  battle  that  followed  was 
one  of  the  most  fiercely  contested  as  well  as  one 
of  the  most  noted  in  history.  Sankwei  was  out- 
matched and  outnumbered,  but  not  outgeneraled. 
He  fought  with  his  troops  like  the  very  spirit  of 
the  fearful  storm  that  raged  during  the  battle ; 
but  in  spite  of  his  terrific  charges  he  would  have 
been  compelled  to  confess  defeat,  had  not  the 
Manchu  advance  guard  of  twenty  thousand  vet- 
eran cavalry  thrown  themselves  into  the  breach 
with  a  rush  that  was  irresistible.  The  fight, 
which  commenced  as  a  duel,  ended  in  a  slaughter. 


SANKWEVS   REVENGE.  121 

For  fourteen  miles  Sankwei  pursued  the  usurper's 
disorganized  forces,  and  butchered  them  by  the 
hundreds.  Li  stayed  in  Peking  long  enough  to 
strip  the  palace  of  its  treasures,  and  to  merci- 
lessly execute  all  the  family  of  Wu,  and  set  fire 
to  the  government  buildings.  Sankwei,  however, 
was  close  on  his  heels.  He  left  the  empire  to  the 
Manchus,  the  sacking  of  the  city  to  the  troops, 
and  the  bodies  of  his  family  unburied;  but  he 
swept  on,  tireless,  remorseless,  bent  solely  on  re- 
venge. His  mistress  was  dead,  his  father  mur- 
dered, his  family  obliterated,  but  Li  still  lived. 
Battle  succeeded  battle.  Li,  deserted  by  his  fol- 
lowers, hunted  like  a  mad  dog,  with  all  doors 
shut  to  him,  and  even  the  necessities  of  life  be- 
coming impossible,  was  killed  by  the  rustics  whom 
he  was  plundering  for  food ;  and  Sankwei  arrived 
only  to  claim  the  corpse  of  the  rebel  and  murderer 
who  for  a  few  hours  had  dared  to  sit  on  the 
sacred  dragon  throne. 

Leaving  Sankwei  to  avenge  the  death  of  his 
mistress,  Dorgun  entered  Peking,  in  January, 
1644.  He  proclaimed  his  youtliful  charge  emperor, 
and  issued  a  proclamation  to  the  people  assuring 
them  that  he  had  come  to  deliver  them,  and  that 
they  might  return  to  their  daily  avocations  in 
peace.     He  did  not,  however,  offer  to  restore  the 


122  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

throne  to  its  rightful  owners,  the  Mings,  but  sent 
post  haste  for  his  six-year-old  nephew,  and  for- 
mally transferred  the  Manchu  capital  from  Mouk- 
den  to  Peking.  The  young  lord,  who  adopted 
the  title  of  Shunchih,  arrived  in  October,  and 
with  his  advent  the  Manchu  or  Tsing  dynasty 
came  into  being. 

Shunchih  reigned  eighteen  years  (1644  to  1662), 
during  which  time  he  completely  crushed  the 
Mings,  and  was  able  to  hand  his  throne  over  to 
his  successor,  free  from  all  incumbrances  and 
claimants.  His  first  act  was  to  dismiss  the  eu- 
nuchs from  all  posts  of  honor,  and  debar  them  for 
all  time  from  participating  in  affairs  of  state. 
While  the  oflficial  class  and  the  common  people 
about  Peking  accepted  ]\Ianchu  rule  gladly,  the 
southern  districts  of  the  empire  remained  true  to 
the  legitimate,  if  dissolute,  Mings.  Fu  Wang,  an 
ignorant,  drunken  grandson  of  Wanli,  was  pro- 
claimed emperor  at  Nanking,  and  Shih  Kofa,  a 
man  of  incorruptible  virtue  and  great  influence, 
undertook  the  hopeless  task  of  winning  back  his 
throne  for  him.  Dorgun  first  tried  to  open  nego- 
tiations with  this  grand  old  man.  He  pointed  out 
the  impossibiUty  of  ever  reinstating  the  worn-out 
Mings  in  the  affection  of  the  people,  and  offered 
amnesty  to  all,  and  great  honors  to  Shih,  if  he 


THE  MANCHU  CONQUEST.  123 

would  give  up  the  struggle.  But  it  was  all  in 
vain,  and  the  regent  ordered  his  armies  to  advance. 
The  Manchus  were  uniformly  successful;  city 
after  city  fell,  the  brave  Shih  lost  his  life  at  the 
fall  of  Hangchow,  and  within  a  year  from  the 
commencement  of  hostilities  Nanking  was  in  their 
power,  and  Fu  Wang  was  a  prisoner.  It  need 
hardly  be  recorded  that  Fu  Wang  was  not  long 
called  upon  to  endure  this  disgrace.  He  was  exe- 
cuted with  the  usual  neatness  and  dispatch.  Fu 
Wang's  successor  had  the  pleasure  of  being  called 
emperor  for  three  days,  during  which  time  he  dis- 
tinguished himself  by  opening  the  gates  of  Hang 
Chow  to  the  enemy.  Tang  Wang,  a  descendant 
of  Hung  Wu,  in  the  ninth  generation,  next  at- 
tempted the  imperial  role  without  success;  and 
after  losing  Ningpo,  Shanghai,  Wenchow,  and 
Taichow,  he  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  conquerors 
with  the  usual  unpleasant  result. 

Probably  the  most  famous  character  of  this 
period  was  Koxinga,  variously  styled  pirate,  pa- 
triot, admiral,  and  king.  On  the  ascension  of 
Kwei  Wang  to  the  so-called  throne,  Koxinga,  who 
was  in  command  of  the  fleets  as  well  as  sole  pro- 
prietor, became  the  main  hope  of  the  falling  cause. 
Koxinga  was  the  son  of  Admiral  Chang,  whose 
career  made  a  fitting  prelude  to  the  more  remark- 


124  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

able  one  of  his  son.  Chang  was  a  native  of 
Fuhkin,  and  in  early  life  professed  Christianity 
to  the  Catholic  missionaries.  He  was  sent  to 
Macao,  and  from  there  went  to  Manila,  and  later 
to  Japan,  in  which  last  clime  he  married  a  Japan- 
ese. Koxinga  was  the  fruit  of  this  union.  Chang's 
next  move  was  not  exactly  in  line  with  his  reli- 
gious training.  He  induced  a  relative  of  his  wife 
to  intrust  him  with  a  rich  cargo  for  the  Chinese 
market.  The  proceeds  of  the  sale  of  this  ship  and 
cargo,  which  he  promptly  appropriated,  enabled 
Chang  to  fit  out  a  fleet  of  piratical  junks.  By 
Bkillful  management  he  amassed  a  colossal  fortune, 
and  became  such  a  power  that  the  Emperor  Shun- 
chih  conferred  on  him  the  rank  of  admiral,  and 
kept  him  an  honored  but  unwilling  guest  at  Pe- 
king. The  son,  Koxinga,  declined  wdth  thanks 
the  emperor's  invitation  to  join  his  father  in  his 
gilded  cage,  and  assuming  command  of  the  fleet, 
which  had  grown  to  over  a  thousand  war-junks, 
repaired  to  the  Pescadores  and  espoused  the  Ming 
cause.  He  was,  however,  as  expensive  an  ally 
as  he  was  a  troublesome  enemy.  The  Manchus 
could  not  meet  him  on  the  sea,  and  never  knew 
when  he  was  going  to  strike  on  the  coast.  Shun- 
chih  gave  up  the  attempt  to  guard  his  great  coast- 
line, and  issued  an  edict  commanding  the  natives 


CHINA'S  NEGATIVE  POLICY.         125 

of  the  littoral  provinces  to  retire  four  leagues  in- 
land. The  order  was  carried  out  to  the  letter, 
although  it  turned  fishermen  into  agriculturists, 
and  changed  the  diet  of  several  millions  of  people- 
It  furnishes  a  curious  example  of  China's  historic 
negative  poUcy. 

The  cause  of  the  Mings  under  the  leadership  of 
Kwei  Wang  prospered  for  a  time,  and  Canton  fell 
into  his  hands;  but  his  successes  were  only  momen- 
tary, as  the  relentless  Wu  Sankwei  never  for  a  mo- 
ment gave  him  a  breathing-spell.  After  a  series 
of  hard-fought  battles  the  Ming  was  driven  through 
the  provinces  of  Kweichow  and  Yunnan,  and  was 
forced  to  beg  the  protection  of  the  king  of  Bur- 
mah.  Had  it  not  been  for  the  murdered  slave- 
girl  he  would  have  been  permitted  to  remain 
there;  but  Sankwei  paid  no  attention  to  his  pa- 
thetic letter,  reminding  him  of  the  honors  he  had 
received  from  the  last  of  the  Ming  emperors,  and 
begging  for  his  life,  but  demanded  from  the  king 
of  Burmah  his  immediate  surrender.  The  king 
was  easily  terrified  by  the  famous  general,  and 
handed  over  the  prince  and  his  entire  family. 
Despairing  of  his  life,  Kwei  Wang  strangled  him- 
self with  a  silken  cord,  in  May,  1652,  thereby 
once  again  cheating  Sankwei  of  his  vengeance. 

In   1656    the    Russian    Emperor    Alexis,    the 


126  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

father  of  Peter  the  Great,  sent  an  embassy  to 
China,  with  a  view  to  establishing  commercial  rela- 
tions. The  Russians,  however,  were  not  prepared 
"  to  do  in  Rome  as  the  Romans  do,"  and  positively 
refused  to  perform  the  kotow  before  the  Manchu 
emperor,  a  ceremony  which  is  the  equivalent  to  an 
acknowledgment  of  vassalage,  and  consists  in 
making  nine  prostrations,  touching  the  ground 
each  time  with  the  forehead.  The  Russians  were 
dismissed.  Shortly  after  the  Dutch  sent  a  similar 
embassy.  Profiting  by  the  example  of  the  Rus- 
sians, the  Dutch  submitted  to  whatever  was  re- 
quired. The  Chinese  emperors  hold  their  levees 
at  daybreak;  and  the  ambassadors  were  huddled 
into  a  cold  outer  apartment  in  their  court  dresses, 
and  forced  to  rub  shoulders  throughout  the  night 
with  the  tributary  envoy  of  a  prince  of  the  south- 
em  Tartars,  in  a  long  crimson  sheepskin  coat, 
great  boots,  bare  arms,  and  cap  surmounted  with 
a  horse-tail ;  with  an  ambassador  of  a  Mongol 
khan  in  a  blue  dress  covered  with  embroidery ;  a 
representative  of  the  Grand  Lama,  in  yellow  robe, 
cardinal's  hat  and  beads ;  a  Korean  and  a  Bur- 
mese. The  Dutch  made  the  kotow  with  the  rest, 
and  delivered  their  presents.  In  payment  for 
their  debasement  they  received  a  letter  from  the 
emperor,  which  read :  "  You  have  asked  leave  to 


KANGHSI  AND   KOXINGA.  127 

come  to  trade  in  my  country;  but  as  your  country 
is  so  far  distant,  and  the  winds  on  the  east  coast 
so  boisterous  and  so  dangerous  to  your  ships,  if 
you  do  think  fit  to  send  hither,  I  desire  that  it 
may  be  but  once  every  eight  years,  and  no  more 
than  one  hundred  men  in  a  company,  twenty  of 
whom  may  come  up  to  the  place  where  I  keep  my 
court." 

Shunchih  died  a  natural  death,  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  his  second  son,  Kanghsi,  one  of  the 
greatest  of  Chinese  monarchs.  He  was  eight 
years  old  when  he  ascended  the  throne ;  and  the 
first  problem  that  confronted  him  was  the  suppres- 
sion of  the  pirate  king,  Koxinga.  In  1663  a 
combined  naval  attack  of  Chinese  and  Dutch  had 
made  untenable  Amoy,  his  last  stronghold  on  the 
mainland;  so  Koxinga  embarked  an  army  of 
twenty  thousand  soldiers,  and  sailed  for  Formosa, 
where  he  was  joined  by  large  numbers  of  Ming 
6migr6s.  He  demanded  the  surrender  of  the 
Dutch  forts.  A  series  of  desperate  battles  fol- 
lowed, in  which  the  Dutch  were  worsted,  and 
compelled  to  retire  to  their  colonies  in  Java. 
Koxinga  assumed  the  sovereignty,  and  was  recog- 
nized by  Europeans  as  king  of  Formosa.  He  was 
not  content,  however,  to  reign  quietly,  but  kept 
up  his   descents  on   the    maritime    provinces  of 


128  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

China,  an  finally,  irritated  by  the  conduct  of  his 
son,  he  became  mad  and  died,  at  the  age  of  thirty- 
eight,  from  self-inflicted  injuries.  His  demise 
closed  the  career  of  the  premier  pirate  of  all  his- 
tory. He  was  succeeded  by  his  unfilial  son, 
Ching  Chin,  who  continued  his  father's  policy  of 
ravaging  the  coast.  The  Chinese  fully  realized 
that  they  were  no  match  for  the  veteran  pirate, 
and  gave  up  the  struggle  when  they  deserted  the 
coast-line.  On  the  other  hand,  the  pirates  were 
never  able  to  maintain  an  equal  fight  on  land. 
Formosa  is  an  extremely  fertile  island,  and  had 
Ching  Chin's  followers  been  willing  to  become 
agriculturists,  the  line  of  Koxinga  might  have 
become  the  recognized  reigning  house ;  but 
unable  to  resist  a  call  to  arms  which  promised 
plunder,  the  Formosan  king  threw  in  his  lot  with 
the  famous  general  and  prince,  Wu  Sankwei,  in  a 
rebellion  that  might  have  wrecked  the  Manchu 
dynasty  had  Sankwei  lived  to  direct  it.  Right- 
fully or  wrongfully,  Kanghsi  did  not  feel  secure 
on  the  throne  that  Sankwei  had  won  for  his  father, 
so  long  as  that  veteran  general  had  such  tremen- 
dous power  in  the  empire.  He  was  the  prince 
viceroy  of  the  great  provinces  of  Kweichow  and 
Yunnan,  besides  possessing  the  prestige  of  being 
the  most  able  general  in  Chinese  history.     Broad- 


SANKWEVS  DEFIANCE.  129 

minded  and  generous  as  was  the  emperor,  it 
may  have  been  impossible  for  his  Chinese  mind 
to  free  itself  of  the  suspicion  that  he  would  never 
be  first  in  the  eyes  of  his  subjects  while  Sankwei 
lived.  Kanghsi  first  asked  for  a  son  of  Sankwei 
to  reside  in  court.  This  request  was  instantly 
complied  with.  Next,  the  emperor  invited  the 
prince  to  present  himself  at  the  capital.  Sankwei 
diplomatically  pleaded  old  age,  and  begged  the 
emperor  to  accept  his  compliments  and  excuse. 
The  emperor  foolishly  pressed  the  point,  and  or- 
dered a  commission  to  report  on  the  condition  of 
Saukwei's  health.  The  martial  spirit  of  the  old 
lion  was  aroused  at  the  insult ;  and  he  turned  on 
the  commission :  "  Tell  your  master,  whom  I  made 
emperor,  that  I  will  come  to  Peking,  but  it  will  be 
at  the  head  of  eighty  thousand  veterans."  Sank- 
wei knew  how  to  strike,  and  to  strike  hard.  He 
organized  his  viceroyalty  into  a  separate  state,  and 
in  1674  all  of  Southern  China  fell  an  easy  prey  to 
his  superb  military  genius.  Kanghsi  realized  his 
mistake,  and  tried  to  open  negotiations ;  but,  un- 
fortunately, in  the  meantime  Sankwei's  son  at 
Peking  had  been  beheaded  by  imperial  order,  and 
the  stem  old  general  scorned  his  advances.  How- 
ever, the  emperor  was  a  foeman  worthy  of  Sank- 
wei's steel ;  and  although,  like  Napoleon,  Sankwei 


130  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

was  always  victorious  when  he  led  in  person,  the 
Manchu  forces  were  able  to  hold  his  generals  in 
check,  and  the  Formosan  king  was  unable  to  make 
any  headway  on  land.  Still,  it  was  not  until  the 
death  of  Sankwei,  from  paralysis,  in  October,  1678, 
that  the  Manchu  dynasty  could  feel  that  it  was 
finally  in  possession  of  the  empire.  For  three  years 
more  the  fighting  continued,  but  it  was  ineffective. 
Kanghsi  tarnished  his  fame  by  having  the  body 
of  Sankwei  disinterred,  and  his  bones  scattered 
through  the  provinces,  and  by  issuing  a  decree 
debarring  forever  his  descendants  from  entering 
literary  examinations  or  becoming  mandarins. 
Kanghsi  missed  the  great  opportunity  of  his  reign 
to  ennoble  his  name  forevermore,  by  erecting  a 
temple  of  honor  to  the  grand  old  general  and  to 
the  dead  slave-girl  who  had  placed  his  family  on 
the  throne. 

With  the  suppression  of  the  rebellion  Kanghsi 
decided  to  crush  the  Formosan  pirates,  so  called, 
who,  during  the  rebelKon,  had  possessed  themselves 
of  the  cities  of  Amoy  and  Haiting.  A  force  of 
thirty  thousand  men  and  three  hundred  ships  dis- 
lodged Ching  Chin,  and  compelled  him  to  retire 
once  more  to  his  island  capital,  where  he  died  six 
months  later.  In  July,  1683,  the  Chinese  fleet 
set  out  for  Formosa,  and  the  fate  of  the  buccaneer 


TOLERANCE  TO  MISSIONARIES.    131 

kingdom  was  decided  in  a  desperate  two  days' 
land  and  naval  battle.  The  Manchus  were  suc- 
cessful; and  although  Koshwang,  the  Formosan 
king,  might  have  held  out  indefinitely,  and  have 
tired  the  invaders  out  by  carrying  on  a  guerilla 
warfare,  he  preferred  the  title  of  duke  and  a  life 
pension  with  a  residence  in  Peking  to  a  precarious 
existence  in  the  mountains.  Thus  ended  the 
record  of  the  greatest  and  most  successful  purely 
piratical  adventure  in  history,  with  the  possible 
exceptions  of  the  Cortez  expedition  in  Mexico  and 
that  of  Pizarro  in  Peru.  Its  fate  is  an  example 
of  the  impossibility  of  building  up  an  independent, 
self-respecting  nation  from  its  criminal  classes. 

The  missionaries  played  a  rather  important  role 
during  the  long  reign  of  Kanghsi.  The  emperor, 
personally,  had  a  perfect  contempt  for  all  reli- 
gions ;  but  he  was  absolutely  tolerant,  and  in  spite 
of  the  opposition  of  his  officials  he  permitted 
freedom  of  worship,  but  forbade  proselyting. 
"As  we  do  not  restrain  the  lamas  of  Tartary," 
he  said,  "  or  the  bonzes  of  China,  from  building 
temples  and  burning  incense,  we  cannot  refuse 
these  having  their  own  churches,  and  publicly 
teaching  their  religion,  especially  as  nothing  has 
been  alleged  against  it  as  contrary  to  law.  Were 
we  not  to  do  this,  we  should  contradict  ourselves. 


132  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

We  hold,  therefore,  that  they  may  build  temples 
to  the  Lord  of  Heaven,  and  maintain  them  wher- 
ever they  will;  and  that  those  who  honor  them 
may  freely  resort  to  them  to  bum  incense  and  to 
observe  the  rites  usual  to  Christianity."  Pere 
Verbiest,  a  Dutch  priest,  who  was  famous  for  his 
scientific  and  philosophic  learning,  was  employed 
to  revise  the  Chinese  calendar,  and  discovered 
that  it  was  an  entire  month  too  fast  He  was 
made  president  of  the  Astronomical  Board,  while 
two  Jesuit  missionaries,  Gerbillon  and  Pereira, 
stood  equally  as  high  in  the  emperor's  confidence, 
and  in  1689  had  the  honor  of  concluding  China's 
first  treaty  with  a  European  power.  They  might 
have  done  their  religion  a  vast  amount  of  future 
good  had  they  been  more  careful  of  the  treatment 
of  the  corrupt  officialdom  around  them ;  but  they 
believed  that  it  was  their  mission  to  expose  fraud 
in  high  places  as  well  as  low ;  and  in  the  end  they 
made  so  many  powerful  enemies  that  the  mis- 
sionaries who  followed  them,  and  who  were  not 
great  savants,  were  made  to  suffer  for  their  im- 
politic acts.  It  was  also  unfortunate  that  the 
different  Catholic  orders  could  not  live  in  harmony 
with  each  other.  They  quarreled  so  fiercely  over 
the  proper  Chinese  character  for  the  name  of  God, 
that  the  viceroy  of   Canton,  in  1716,  petitioned 


CHINESE   CANNONS.  133 

the  emperor  tliat  he  might  be  empowered  to  forbid 
them  to  live  in  his  province.  The  story  of  the 
disputes  of  the  rival  orders  is  very  interesting 
from  a  scholastic  point  of  view,  but  they  were 
responsible  for  the  almost  utter  wreck  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  missions  in  China. 

The  invasion  of  Galdan,  the  chief  of  the 
Eleuths,  a  Kalmuck  tribe,  with  a  formidable  force, 
determined  Kanghsi  to  settle  forever  the  status  of 
his  troublesome  neighbors  beyond  the  great  wall ; 
and  the  larger  part  of  the  years  from  1680  to  his 
death  in  1723  were  filled  with  battles  with  these 
hardy  adventurers.  Galdan,  the  greatest  of  the 
Central  Asian  leaders,  was  eventually  driven  to 
suicide ;  and  his  successor,  Tseh  Wang  Putan, 
who  was  made  chief  by  Kanghsi,  was  afterwards 
dethroned,  with  the  loss  of  all  his  territory.  It 
was  in  these  sanguinary  wars  that  cannon  first 
came  into  use,  and  they  were  quite  as  effective 
against  the  wild  fighters  of  Tartary  as  they  after- 
wards became  against  the  savage  warriors  of  North 
America. 

Kanghsi  died  near  the  close  of  1722,  of  a  cold 
contracted  while  hunting.  He  had  reigned  sixty- 
one  yeara,  and  he  left  a  name  in  Chinese  history 
that  ranks  him  alongside  of  the  great  Yau  and 
Shun.     He  was  a  man  of  great  natural  ability,  a 


134  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

wise  ruler,  and  a  distinguished  scholar.  His  dic- 
tionary is  still  the  standard  one  of  China,  and  his 
"  Sixteen  Maxims  "  is  part  of  the  course  of  study 
in  every  Cliinese  school.  During  his  reign  a 
regular  trade  in  tea  sprang  up,  and  in  1699  a 
factory  was  established  in  Canton.  In  1703,  over 
one  hundred  thousand  pounds  of  tea  were  ex- 
ported from  Canton,  and  in  1715  the  trade  had 
become  so  well  established  that  a  regular  line  of 
British  tea-ships  was  placed  in  commission.  Quite 
a  foreign  settlement  sprang  up  on  the  Honan  side 
of  Canton,  and  large  fortunes  were  made,  in  spite 
of  the  jealousy  and  persecution  of  the  Chinese 
officials.  The  little  colony  complained  bitterly  of 
its  precarious  situation  and  the  humiliations  it  had 
to  stand ;  but  as  long  as  the  trade  was  so  lucrative 
the  European  nations  temporized  with  the  Chinese 
rather  than  risk  the  possible  breaking  off  of  com- 
mercial relations.  In  the  end,  however,  commerce 
had  to  pay  dearly  for  its  early  weakness  and 
timidity. 

Yungching,  the  fourth  son  of  Kanghsi,  suc- 
ceeded to  the  throne.  His  rule  of  fourteen  years 
was  uneventful,  save  for  the  usual  number  of 
rebelhons  and  the  annual  picnic  excursions  of  the 
Tartars  into  the  northern  provinces.  The  quar- 
reling Catholic  missionaries  were  formally  banished 


A  DIPLOMATIC  TRIUMPH.  135 

from  the  empire,  and  more  than  three  hundred 
churches  were  destroyed.  In  1727  Portugal  sent 
an  envoy  to  Peking,  which,  as  usual,  resulted  in 
nothing.  The  same  year  a  Russian  embassy  was 
more  successful,  in  so  far  as  they  obtained  per- 
mission for  a  number  of  their  young  men  to  reside 
in  Peking  to  study  the  language,  and  that  Count 
Sava  managed  to  place  his  credentials  directly  in 
the  august  hands  of  the  emperor  rather  than  on 
the  table  before  the  throne.  At  the  time  this  was 
considered  a  great  diplomatic  triumph;  and  as 
petty  as  it  may  seem,  it  may  be  looked  upon  as 
one  of  the  steps  that  led  to  China's  eventual  recog- 
nition of  the  equality  of  all  nations.  The  last 
step  in  this  whimsical  procession  towards  the 
throne  was  taken  last  year  by  Prince  Henry  of 
Prussia,  when  his  personal  call  on  the  Emperor 
of  China  was  returned  in  person  by  the  Son  of 
Heaven. 


136  CHINA'S   OPEN  BOOR. 


VIL 

FROM  CHI  EN  LUNG  TO  HIENFUNG. 

[A.D.   1735-A.D.   1851.] 

WHEN  Chien  Lung  ascended  the  throne 
in  1735  at  the  age  of  twenty-five,  he 
made  a  public  vow  that,  "  should  he, 
like  his  illustrious  grandfather  Kanghsi,  be  per- 
mitted to  complete  the  sixtieth  year  of  his  reign, 
he  would  show  his  gratitude  to  Heaven  by  resign- 
ing the  crown  to  his  heir,  as  an  acknowledgment 
that  he  had  been  favored  to  the  full  extent  of  his 
wishes."  Not  one  person  who  was  present  at  the 
Hall  of  Imperial  Ancestors  when  the  vow  was 
made,  lived  to  see  it  fulfilled ;  but  it  was  thus 
kept  to  the  very  hour  and  minute,  and  it  is  the 
only  example  in  Chinese  history  where  a  monarch 
voluntarily  laid  down  the  royal  yellow. 

It  was  not  in  longevity  alone  that  Chien  Lung 
resembled  his  great  sire.  He  was  a  strong  char- 
acter, a  great  ruler,  and  a  patron  of  education. 
His  reign  was  disturbed  with  rebellions  and  foreign 


RETURN  OF   THE    TOURGOTS.        137 

wars;  but  the  rebellions  were  not  aimed  at  his 
administration,  and  the  wars  with  Nepal,  Burma, 
and  Turkestan  were  not  of  his  seeking,  although 
he  never  turned  aside  when  once  engaged  until  he 
was  indisputably  master  of  the  field.  He  was 
harsh  with  the  Catholics,  but,  as  he  said,  no  more 
so  than  the  Catholics  would  be  with  the  mission- 
aries of  the  Grand  Lama  of  Thibet,  should  he 
send  them  to  Europe  to  proselyte  and  stir  up 
strife.  His  court  and  table  were  always  open  to 
missionaries  of  ability ;  and  Jesuits  like  Castighone 
and  Attiret,  who  were  artists  and  skilled  workers, 
were  treated  with  the  greatest  distinction.  One 
of  the  most  remarkable  and  romantic  incidents  of 
his  long  reign  was  the  return  of  the  self-exiled 
tribe  of  Tourgots  from  the  steppes  of  the  Kirghez 
in  Russia,  where  they  had  fled  to  be  free  from 
early  Mongol  invasion.  The  return  of  this  tribe 
of  six  hundred  thousand  people  to  their  father- 
land in  1772  is  a  most  thrilling  story,  as  told  by 
De  Quincey  in  his  "  The  Flight  of  a  Tartar 
Tribe." 

In  his  war  with  the  Gurkhas  of  Nepal,  it  seems 
that  the  British  in  India  made  a  demonstration 
that  very  much  aided  and  gratified  the  Chinese, 
and  the  British  Government  thought  this  a  good 
time  to  try  to  obtain  some  concessions  that  would 


138  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

relieve  the  deplorable  situation  at  Canton.  Lord 
Macartney,  late  governor  of  Madras,  at  the  head 
of  an  imposing  suite,  and  carrying  an  entire  ship- 
load of  presents,  arrived  at  Canton  in  1793.  He 
was  received  by  the  Chinese  with  the  greatest  dis- 
tinction, and  by  the  governors  of  all  the  cities  on 
his  way  to  Peking.  His  reception  at  the  capital 
and  at  the  emperor's  summer  palace  at  Jehol  was 
most  flattering ;  although  the  fact  that  the  flag  on 
the  vessel  on  which  he  voyaged  up  the  Peiho  bore 
the  legend,  "  Tribute-Bearer  from  the  country  of 
England,"  marred  the  joy  of  the  occasion. 

All  English  histories  of  China  devote  more 
space  to  a  narrative  of  the  account  of  this  mission 
than  they  do  to  the  rest  of  the  sixty  years'  reign 
of  Chien  Lung ;  but  other  than  being  a  most  gor- 
geous picnic  excursion  for  Macartney,  and  a  vast 
expense  to  the  English  government,  not  one  single 
thing  was  gained,  commercially  or  diplomatically. 
Macartney  was  dismissed  with  sweetly  bland  con- 
tempt, and  his  vast  array  of  presents  were  ac- 
cepted in  the  same  spirit  that  Chinese  emperors 
had  been  accepting  presents  from  tributary  states 
since  the  days  of  Shun  and  Yau.  Europe  was 
still  valuing  China  at  its  own  estimate ;  and  it  is 
curious  how  small  an  excuse  in  the  beginning  of 
1800  would  lead  to  war  in  Europe,  and  yet  what 


A    GREAT  EMPIRE.  139 

gross  insults  the  same  nations  would  submit  to 
from  this  haughty  Asiatic  empire. 

In  1796  Chien  Lung  abdicated  on  his  diamond 
anniversary,  although  he  had  three  years  yet  to 
live,  long  enough  to  discover  that  he  had  made  a 
great  mistake  in  his  estimate  of  the  character  of 
his  son  and  successor,  Chiaching.  For  the  first 
time  in  Chinese  history  an  emperor  was  able  to 
turn  over  to  his  successor  an  empire  that  was  at 
absolute  peace,  although  its  boundaries  extended 
from  the  northern  steppes  of  Mongolia  to  Cochin 
China,  and  from  Formosa  to  Nepal. 

It  is  a  wise  father  that  knows  his  own  son,  and 
Chiaching  was  not  long  in  demonstrating  this 
axiom.  He  evidently  believed  that  the  Tsing 
dynasty  had  made  such  a  reputation  for  ability  and 
virtue  during  the  reign  of  its  three  sovereigns 
that  it  would  permit  him  to  enjoy  life  with  per- 
fect safety  and  as  he  saw  fit.  He  surrounded  him- 
self with  actors,  bon  vivants,  and  flatterers,  and 
throwing  all  questions  of  ceremonial  etiquette  to 
the  winds,  made  wine,  women  and  song,  the  con- 
trolling influences  of  his  court.  His  orgies  did 
not  rival  those  of  many  of  his  predecessors  in 
magnificence  or  costly  outlay ;  but  he  was  always 
the  buffoon,  and  never  the  king,  and  he  even  car- 
ried  his   comedians   with   him   when  he    offered 


140  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

sacrifices  at  the  temples  of  heaven  and  earth. 
Sung,  one  of  his  ministers,  dared  to  point  out  to 
his  royal  master  the  disastrous  effect  it  would 
have  upon  the  nation  if  its  high  priest  made 
sport  of  the  holy  of  holies.  The  only  impression 
this  reproof  made  was  a  peremptory  summons  for 
Sung  to  appear  in  court,  and  state  what  punish- 
ment he  deserved.  "A  slow  and  ignominious 
death,"  which  meant  quartering,  replied  the  stout- 
hearted old  statesman,  who  evidently  thought  that 
as  long  as  he  must  die,  he  might  as  well  ask 
for  the  worst.  "  Choose  again,"  thundered  the 
astonished  emperor.  "  Let  me  be  beheaded," 
was  the  answer.  Chiaching  paused  for  a  moment 
in  deep  thought,  and  a  third  time  put  the  ques- 
tion. This  time  Sung's  face  beamed  with  joy,  for 
he  believed  that  he  was  to  be  permitted  to  die  an 
honorable  death ;  and  he  almost  shouted  in  his 
relief,  "Let  me  be  strangled."  Immediately  the 
emperor  dismissed  the  brave  courtier,  and  made 
him  governor  of  the  province  of  Ih,  or  Chinese 
Siberia,  where  he  could  exercise  his  great  talents 
in  battlinsr  with  the  frontier  marauders  rather  than 
with  the  emperor's  shortcomings. 

It  is  sad  to  chronicle  that  Sung's  reproof  had 
no  effect.  With  such  a  state  of  affairs  in  court,  it 
is   little  wonder  that  rebellion    and   insurrection 


THE  PIRATE  INVASION.  141 

spmng  up  throughout  the  empire.  China  has 
always  been  a  fertile  soil  for  the  growth  of  secret 
societies.  Their  object  is  primarily  purely  philan- 
thropic ;  but  in  a  time  like  the  present  reign,  when 
the  official  class  was  given  free  license  to  squeeze 
the  people,  they  became  a  theater  for  ambitious 
schemei-s  and  the  base  for  a  revolution. 

The  insurrection  of  the  White  Lily  sect  swept 
the  provinces  of  Honan,  Shensi,  Kansu,  and  Sze- 
chuan,  costing  thousands  of  lives,  the  greatest  suf- 
fering, and  an  outlay  of  over  a  hundred  million 
taels.  Naturally  piracy  took  advantage  of  this 
season  of  terror  and  the  weakness  of  the  central 
government,  to  scour  the  seas,  and  ravage  the  coast- 
towns.  At  one  time  their  force  was  estimated  at 
seventy  thousand  men,  with  eighteen  hundred 
junks ;  and  their  chief,  Chai,  made  for  himself  a 
name  almost  as  terrible  as  that  of  the  great 
Koxinga.  The  imperial  navy  was  so  helpless  that 
the  emperor  had  to  petition  the  despised  English 
in  Canton  to  send  the  war-ship  "  Mercury "  to 
safeguard  the  transport  of  the  Siamese  tribute 
from  Bangkok  to  the  imperial  coffers.  The 
European  tea-ships  gained  nothing,  however,  by 
this  action,  and  not  only  had  to  protect  them- 
selves from  the  pirates,  but  had  to  submit  to  all 
the  petty  exactions  of  the  imperial  guard-ships. 


142  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

In  1802  the  English  occupied  Macao  to  protect 
it  from  seizure  by  the  French;  and  again  in  1808 
Admiral  Drury  landed  a  force  to  assist  the  Portu- 
guese in  case  the  French  made  the  threatened  de- 
scent; and  yet  in  spite  of  the  obligations  which 
both  the  Chinese  and  the  Portuguese  willingly 
placed  themselves  under  to  the  English,  both  na- 
tions vehemently  protested  and  threatened  when 
H.  M.  S.  "  Doris  "  brought  in  1814  the  American 
sailing-ship  "  Hunter  "  into  Macao  as  a  prize.  The 
Chinese  even  threatened  to  shut  up  the  port  of 
Macao  to  foreign  trade  unless  the  English  took 
their   men-of-war   off   the    coast. 

The  Russians  were  no  more  fortunate  in  their 
attempts  to  open  a  door  into  China.  In  1805  a 
Russian  embassy  reached  the  great  wall,  when 
they  were  informed  that  they  might  save  them- 
selves the  trouble  of  journeying  farther  unless 
they  intended  to  do  the  kotow.  Count  Goloyken 
declined,  and  immediately  retraced  his  long  and 
toilsome  journey.  In  1816  George  the  Third,  not 
satisfied  with  the  result  of  the  Macartney  picnic, 
decided  to  try  once  more,  and  dispatched  Lord 
Amherst  at  the  head  of  another  one.  Immediately 
on  the  arrival  of  Amherst  the  question  of  "  to 
kotow,  or  not  to  kotow "  was  raised ;  and  as 
Amherst  was  firm  in  his  refusal,  he  also  had  to 


SUPINENESS   OF  ENGLAND.  143 

turn  back  without  gazing  on  the  countenance  of 
the  Son  of  Heaven.  As  England  did  not  resent 
the  failure  of  the  Macartney  expedition,  the  Chi- 
nese did  not  think  it  worth  while  to  be  even  polite 
to  Amherst;  and  as  the  historian  of  the  expedi- 
tion puts  it,  the  embassy  was  treated  with  "  brutal 
rudeness  and  insulting  demeanor."  When  it  is  re- 
membered that  England  at  this  time  had  won  the 
battle  of  Waterloo,  and  was  mistress  of  the  seas, 
one  cannot  but  wonder  at  her  supineness  in  deal- 
ing with  the  licentious  Peking  court.  Chiaching 
died  in  1820,  at  the  age  of  sixty-one,  mourned  by 
none,  and  execrated  by  all.  It  is  remarkable  that 
the  consequences  of  his  reign  were  not  more 
serious,  and  that  more  sanguinary  outbreaks  did 
not  occur,  as  the  imperial  power  was  little  stronger 
than  that  of  one  of  the  great  viceroys. 

The  one  natural  human  act  of  Chiaching's  career 
was  his  choice  of  his  own  son,  Taokwang,  as  his 
successor.  The  choice  was  in  the  nature  of  a 
reward.  In  1813  the  palace  was  invaded  by  a 
band  of  armed  men  bent  on  the  assassination  of 
the  emperor.  The  attempt  would  have  been  suc- 
cessful but  for  young  Taokwang,  who  sprang  to 
his  father's  rescue,  and  in  a  hand-to-hand  fight 
killed  two  of  the  leaders,  while  a  relative  shot  a 
third.     The   emperor   thus   describes    the    affair: 


144  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

"  My  imperial  second  son  seized  a  matchlock,  and 
shot  two  of  them.  For  this  deliverance  I  am 
indebted  to  the  energies  of  my  second  son." 

In  one  particular  the  reign  is  famous  in  China's 
long  history,  as  during  it  the  official  class  learned 
more  surprising  things  than  are  found  in  the  phi- 
losophy of  Confucius.  It  was  an  iconoclastic  era, 
in  which  the  most  revered  idols  were  ruthlessly 
broken  by  the  despised  "outer  barbarian."  To 
the  horror  of  the  "  Son  of  Heaven"  he  discovered 
that  the  sons  of  earth  not  only  dared  to  "dispute 
his  preeminence  on  this  globe,  but  were  prepared 
to  assert  their  equahty.  The  hermit  nation  was 
forced  into  the  world,  and  the  "  tributary  nation  " 
fiction  and  the  kotow  bugbear  were  swept  into 
limbo  without  regard  to  their  hoary  antiquity  or 
eminent  respectability.  The  outer  barbarian 
proved  to  be  a  veritable  bull  in  a  China  shop. 
Taokwang  went  on  to  the  dread  throne  of  the  cen- 
turies, actually  believing  himself  to  be  the  king  of 
kings,  and  the  most  awe-inspiring  object  on  earth ; 
he  died  a  much  wiser  but  sadder  man,  with  his 
tiirone  at  the  mercy  of  a  few  English  frigates,  and 
his  august  self  the  sport  of  a  thousand  English 
soldiers.  Taokwang  might  well  have  believed  that 
"  after  me  the  deluge  ; "  for  no  man  in  all  history 
ever  took  a  fall  from  such  a  height  in  so  brief  a 


TJOKWANG'S  SURPRISE.  145 

time ;  and  the  joke  of  it  was  that  with  Taokwang 
it  was  so  unexpected,  and  so  contrary  to  the  teach- 
ings of  the  classics,  that  he  really  never  understood 
what  had  happened  to  him  up  to  the  day  of  liis 
death.  No  comic  opera  was  ever  half  so  enter- 
taining as  his  career. 

The  first  years  of  the  new  emperor's  reign  were 
disturbed  by  wars  with  the  tributary  tribes  of 
Turkestan,  with  the  Miautze,  —  the  highlanders  of 
China,  —  and  with  the  Fomiosans,  in  all  of  which 
the  Chinese  were  successful,  in  spite  of  the  fact 
that  justice  was  on  the  side  of  the  rebels.  Until 
April,  1834,  all  commercial  intercourse  between 
England  and  China  had  been  through  the  East 
India  Company;  and  while  the  position  of  the 
"VTirtual  rulers  of  all  India  was  most  humiliating  in 
China,  still  their  wrongs  were  strictly  individual, 
and  not  national  ones.  This  state  of  affairs  was 
not  satisfactory  to  the  merchants ;  and  on  the  ex- 
piration of  the  East  India  Company's  charter,  they 
insisted  on  holding  the  home  government  respon- 
sible for  the  redress  of  their  injuries,  rather  than 
their  late  employers.  To  meet  this  new  condition  of 
affairs,  and  to  provide  for  an  official  representative, 
the  English  government  sent  out  in  1834  Lord 
Napier  as  chief  superintendent  of  trade.  Napier 
refused  to  communicate  with  the  viceroy  through 


146  CHINA'S   OPEN  BOOR. 

the  usuoj.  lorm  of  petition,  but  insisted  that  his 
credentials  be  received  as  they  were  written  and 
prepared  under  the  direction  of  his  queen.  He 
proceeded  to  Canton  without  asking  for  a  passport 
at  Macao,  where  he  remained  three  months  with- 
out being  officially  recognized  further  than  being 
officially  expelled  in  August,  1834.  As  a  hint  to 
hasten  his  departure,  all  trade  was  suspended  with 
British  subjects,  Chinese  servants  were  withdrawn 
from  the  European  settlement,  and  an  embargo 
placed  on  provisions.  After  a  hundred  years  of 
humiliation,  the  British  at  last  made  up  their 
minds  to  resent  this  last  insult,  and  the  British 
frigates  "  Imogene "  and  "Andromache"  were 
ordered  to  Canton.  On  the  way  up  the  river  they 
silenced  the  supposedly  impregnable  Bogue  forts 
with  about  as  much  difficulty  as  they  would  have 
experienced  in  knocking  down  a  Malayan  stockade. 
With  the  frigate's  guns  covering  the  factories 
at  Honan,  life  and  property  for  the  time  were  safe, 
but  trade  was  dead,  and  provisions  were  scarce ; 
and  Lord  Napier,  believing  that  discretion  was  the 
better  part  of  valor,  withdrew  to  Macao,  and  the 
impertinent  frigates  were  ordered  down  stream,  or 
as  the  mandarins  boastfully  expressed  it  in  a 
memorial  to  the  emperor,  the  "  barbarian  eye " 
(Napier)  has  been  driven  out,  and  the  two  war- 


NO   OPIUM   TRADE.  147 

ships  "  dragged  over  the  shallows  and  expelled." 
Napier  died  at  Macao  shortly  after  his  arrival;  and 
the  diplomatic  victory  for  the  moment  remained 
with  the  Chinese,  who  were  openly  boastful,  and 
despised  the  English  for  sacrificing  their  honor  to 
protect  their  trade.  But  they  only  dimly  appre- 
ciated the  true  character  of  the  men  with  whom 
they  were  dealing ;  and  Confucius  had  neglected 
to  include  among  his  stories  the  tale  of  the  last 
straw  that  broke  the  camel's  back. 

The  Chinese  government,  however,  had  two 
complaints  against  the  foreign  trade  in  China 
which  they  brought  forward  with  more  or  less 
show  of  reason.  They  complained  of  the  vast 
amount  of  silver  that  was  lost  to  the  empire  con- 
sequent upon  the  trade  with  Europe,  which 
amounted  to  over  sixty  million  taels  annually, 
and  also  of  the  illicit  trade  in  opium,  "foreign 
dirt,  which  was  fast  growing  to  vast  proportions." 

One  of  the  so-called  crimes  which  has  been  laid 
at  Britain's  door  was  this  forcing  of  opium  upon 
China.  It  is  a  long  story,  and  both  sides  have 
been  ably  handled  by  eminent  writers ;  but  after  a 
careful  study  of  all  the  causes  that  led  to  the  first 
and  second  wars  in  China,  and  the  opening  of  the 
treaty  ports,  I  think  that  England  stood  strictly 
within   her  rights,  and  that  opium  was  only  an 


148  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

incident  rather  than  the  cause  of  the  final  clash. 
Had  the  Chinese  been  in  earnest  in  their  desire  to 
prohibit  the  importation  of  opium  from  India, 
they  would  have  forbidden  the  cultivation  of 
poppy  in  their  own  provinces. 

While  I  am  an  enemy  of  any  drug  or  liquor  that 
destroys  manhood,  I  must  assert  that  opium  is  less 
harmful  to  the  Chinese  than  alcohol  is  to  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  ;  a  pipe  of  opium  taken  after  a  hard  day's 
work  seems  to  be  beneficial  rather  than  destruc- 
tive. The  opium  trade  was  a  problem  which  cost 
the  British  government  quite  as  many  sleepless 
nights  as  it  did  the  Chinese.  Lord  Palmerston 
and  all  the  members  of  liis  cabinet  thoroughly  dis- 
approved of  it,  and  officially  let  it  be  known  that 
English  subjects  carried  it  on  at  their  own  risk. 
It  had,  however,  become  so  mixed  up  with  legiti- 
mate trade  that  any  drastic  measures  for  its  sup- 
pression would  cause  great  hardships,  and  bring 
ruin  to  many  of  the  pioneer  English  hongs  in 
China.  If  the  English  government  persisted  in 
driving  their  own  people  out  of  business,  it  simply 
meant  that  the  Dutch,  French,  and  Americans 
would  become  their  heirs.  Sir  G.  Robinson,  who 
succeeded  Davis  as  superintendent  of  trade,  be- 
came so  exasperated  at  his  inability  to  satisfy 
either   the    Chinese    or  his  own  people,    that  in 


SUPERINTENDENT   OF   TRADE.     149 

February,  1836,  he  wrote  Lord  Palraerston  sug- 
gesting that  the  growth  of  the  poppy  should  be 
discontinued  in  India.  The  failure  of  the  English 
to  keep  opium  out  of  China  is  about  similar  to 
our  attempts  to  keep  "  fire-water "  from  the 
American  Indians. 

In  1836  Captain  Elliot,  R.N.,  was  appointed 
superintendent  of  trade  ;  and  although  he  was  a 
much  stronger  and  more  able  man  than  his  prede- 
cessors, he  weakly  consented  to  petition  to  the 
viceroy  for  permission  to  reside  outside  of  Canton, 
thus  for  the  time  surrendering  the  point  which 
had  caused  Lord  Napier's  downfall.  The  viceroy 
rightfully  considered  this  as  a  great  diplomatic 
victory,  after  England  had  demonstrated  her  supe- 
riority in  war,  and  in  his  dispatch  to  the  emperor 
said  that  the  troubles  with  the  barbarians  were 
over,  and  that,  as  an  inferior  race,  they  would 
henceforth  meekly  occupy  the  position  which  they 
ought  to  be  content  to  accept.  In  the  meantime 
the  opium  question  had  caused  much  wrangling 
in  the  Peking  cabinet.  Some  were  for  legalizing 
the  drug,  others  were  for  its  total  exclusion.  In 
1839  the  anti-opium  party  became  supreme,  and 
Lin  was  appointed  with  fuU  powers  to  suppress 
the  traffic.  Eight  days  after  his  arrival  in  Canton 
(March  18,  1839)  Lin  ordered  that  all  opium  in 


150  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

the  foreign  factories  should  be  delivered  to  him. 
Following  up  his  order,  he  surrounded  the  foreign 
godowns  with  his  braves,  lined  the  water-front 
with  war-junks,  and  ordered  the  Chinese  servants 
to  again  withdraw  from  the  service  of  the  barbari- 
ans. By  the  4th  of  May,  there  being  no  alter- 
native, 20,283  chests  of  opium  were  handed  over 
to  Lin ;  but  every  concession  made  by  the  Euro- 
peans for  the  sake  of  trade  only  brought  with  it 
fresh  humiliation.  After  obtaining  the  opium 
and  partially  destroying  it,  the  wily  Lin  over- 
reached himself  in  demanding  that  sixteen  of  the 
leading  merchants  should  be  turned  over  to  him  for 
punishment  for  having  engaged  in  illegal  trade. 

The  English  declined,  and  left  Canton  in  a 
body  for  Macao.  Here,  however,  they  found  that 
they  were  unwelcome  guests;  and  on  the  26th 
August,  1839,  they,  with  all  they  possessed,  de- 
parted for  the  rocky,  inhospitable,  pirate-invested 
island  of  Hong  Kong.  This  was,  however,  going 
a  step  farther  than  Lin  had  intended,  as  he  had 
no  wish  to  actually  lose  the  lucrative  English 
trade.  He  promptly  entered  into  negotiations 
with  Elliot  for  the  return  of  the  obstinate  barba- 
rians to  Canton,  where  it  would  be  easier  for 
him  to  "  squeeze "  them  to  his  heart's  content. 
The  English  were  foolishly  about  to  consent  to 


BATTLE   OF  CHUNPL  151 

return,  when  Lin  again  overreached  himself  by 
insisting  that  the  English  merchants  should  sign 
a  bond  consenting  to  come  under  Chinese  law, 
and  to  be  tried  and  punished  by  it.  On  receipt 
of  Elliot's  refusal,  he  and  his  fugitive  colony  were 
ordered  to  leave  Chinese  soil  within  three  days. 
Having  nowhere  to  go,  they  decided  to  once  more 
appeal  to  arms.  An  engagement  took  place  be- 
tween Lin's  fleet  of  war-junks  and  tire-ships  and 
H.  B.  M.'s  "  Volage  "  and  "  Hyacinth  "  on  Novem- 
ber 3,  1839,  at  Chunpi,  in  which  the  Chinese  were 
badly  worsted.  Lin  was  in  no  way  shocked  at 
the  result,  but  immediately  placed  a  price  upon 
Elliot's  head.  By  this  time  the  English  govern- 
ment at  home  had  discovered  that  if  it  ever  in- 
tended to  do  anything  to  protect  its  interests  in 
China,  it  must  commence  at  once  or  give  up  the 
struggle. 

In  1841  Sir  Gordon  Bremer  blockaded  Canton, 
occupied  Tinghai  on  the  island  of  Chusan,  and 
then  proceeded  to  the  mouth  of  the  Peiho,  where 
Captain  Elliot  was  met  by  Kishen,  the  imperial 
commissioner,  who  was  successful  in  inducing  the 
fleet  to  return  to  Canton.  Here  the  talk  con- 
tinued for  six  weeks  with  no  result,  until  on  the 
6th  of  January,  1841,  Elliot  grew  tired  of  the 
diplomatic  delays,   and  did  the   only  thing  that 


162  CHINA'S   OPEN  BOOR. 

Chinese  statesmen  understand  —  sent  an  ultima- 
tum, and  demanded  an  answer  within  twelve 
hours.  No  reply  being  received,  the  English 
ships  opened  fire  on  the  forts  at  Chuenti  and 
Taikoh,  reducing  both  places  in  an  hour,  and  in- 
flicting a  loss  of  five  hundred  killed  and  two  hun- 
dred wounded,  and  the  destruction  of  sixteen 
war-.junks.  This  proceeding  was  a  great  shock  to 
the  Canton  officials ;  and  they  made  haste  to  enter 
into  a  treaty  whereby  Hong  Kong  was  ceded  to 
the  English,  six  million  dollars  paid  for  the  opium 
destroyed,  and  they  graciously  condescended  to 
recognize  English  officials  on  terms  of  equality. 
Canton  was  also  to  become  an  open  treaty  port. 

When  the  Son  of  Heaven  heard  of  this  treaty 
he  was  thunderstruck.  Kishen  was  promptly 
arrested,  and  carried  a  prisoner  to  Peking.  The 
treaty  was  disavowed,  and  fifty  thousand  dollars 
was  placed  on  the  heads  of  Captain  Elliot,  Sir 
Gordon  Bremer,  and  Mr.  Morrison.  This  time 
the  English  did  not  hesitate.  They  stormed  and 
took  the  famous  Bogue  forts,  and  the  guns  of 
the  squadron  were  trained  on  the  city  of  Canton. 
This  was  going  too  far ;  and  rather  than  have  the 
match  touched  to  them,  the  Chinese  officials  were 
willing  that  their  august  sovereign  should  be 
thunderstruck  the  second  time.     Another  treaty 


THE  ENGLISH  CONQUEST.  153 

was  entered  into ;  but  it  soon  became  clear  to  the 
English  that  the  maintenance  of  peace  was  impos- 
sible until  the  Chinese  were  thoroughly  con- 
vinced of  the  superiority  of  the  European  methods 
of  making  war.  What  had  taken  place  in  Canton 
most  profoundly  shocked  his  majesty,  but  he 
ascribed  the  defeat  of  the  Chinese  to  the  inca- 
pacity of  his  leaders ;  then,  Canton  was  a  long 
way  from  Peking,  and  the  impression  made  by 
the  foreigners  was  not  near  enough  at  home.  To 
correct  this  fault  the  British  fleet  sailed  north- 
ward on  August  21,  1842,  taking  Amoy  on  the 
way,  and  retaking  Tinghai.  They  next  reduced 
Chenhai,  to  the  great  surprise  of  Viceroy  Yukien, 
and  occupied  Ningpo  without  firing  a  shot.  The 
emperor  and  his  hide-bound  cabinet  were  begin- 
ning to  grow  nervous ;  but  it  was  not  until 
Wusung  and  Shanghai  had  fallen  that  Taokwang 
commenced  to  think  seriously  of  effectually  crush- 
ing the  impertinent  barbarians. 

On  the  3d  August  the  fleet  started  up  the 
Yangtse-Kiang  for  the  ancient  capital  of  Nan 
king,  and  on  the  9th  the  debarkation  of  troops 
began.  The  imperial  commissioners,  Ilipu,  Kiying, 
and  Niukien,  seeing  that  the  game  was  up,  asked 
for  an  armistice ;  and  another  treaty  was  signed 
which  was  genuine,  and  the  first  war  with  China 


154  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

came  to  an  end.  This  treaty  of  August  29,  1842, 
opened  to  the  world  the  great  ports  of  Canton, 
Amoy,  Foochow,  Ningpo,  and  Shanghai;  gave 
Hong  Kong  to  the  British,  along  with  a  war  in- 
demnity of  $20,000,000. 

On  July  3,  1844,  a  treaty  of  peace,  amity,  and 
commerce  was  concluded  between  the  United 
States  and  China  by  Caleb  Gushing  for  the  United 
States,  and  Tsiyeng,  "  of  the  imperial  house,  a  vice- 
guardian  of  the  heir  apparent,  governor-general  of 
the  two  Kwangs,  and  superintendent-general  of 
the  trade  and  foreign  intercourse  of  the  five  ports,'* 
on  the  part  of  China.  The  treaty  was,  however, 
not  signed  without  the  usual  attempt  of  evasion 
and  procrastination.  When  Mr.  Cushing  arrived 
in  February,  1844,  on  the  United  States  ship 
"  Brandy  wine,"  he  took  up  his  residence  in  Macao. 
He  was  at  once  informed,  in  a  most  solemn  and 
impressive  manner,  that  he  would  on  no  account 
be  allowed  to  proceed  to  Peking,  as  the  United 
States  had  never  yet  sent  tribute  to  the  Son  of 
Heaven,  and  could  not  therefore  be  included 
among  the  tributary  states. 

This  impertinence  came  a  little  late;  and  al- 
though negotiations  were  impeded  by  a  riot,  in 
which  an  American  killed  a  Chinaman,  the  treaty 
was  finally  concluded  without  the  United  States 


FOREIGN  RELATIONS.  155 

having  to  acknowledge  the  superiority  of  the  Chi- 
nese emperor.  However,  on  account  of  the  bad 
blood  that  had  arisen  over  the  matter,  President 
Tyler  conceded  the  withdrawal  of  Mr.  Gushing, 
who  left  Macao  for  the  United  States  on  August 
27,  1844. 

He  was  succeeded  by  Alexander  H.  Everett, 
who  was  taken  ill  on  the  way,  and  returned  imme- 
diately to  the  United  States.  During  his  absence, 
Commander  James  Biddle,  U.  S.  Navy,  and  Peter 
Parker,  were  in  charge  of  the  legation.  Mr. 
Everett  returned  to  China  in  October,  1846,  and 
remained  until  June,  1847.  Mr.  Parker  was  again 
in  charge  of  the  legation,  from  that  date  until  the 
arrival  of  Mr.  John  W.  Davis,  August  24,  1848. 
In  1844  United  States  consulates  were  established 
at  Hong  Kong  and  Canton,  with  Thomas  W.  Wal- 
dron  and  Paul  S.  Forbes  respectively  as  consuls. 

On  October  23,  1844,  a  treaty  was  signed  be- 
tween China  and  France,  similar  to  those  en- 
tered into  by  England  and  the  United  States. 
The  Chinese  officials  at  Canton,  however,  did  not 
take  kindly  to  the  provisions  of  these  treaties,  and 
mobs  and  murders  were  quite  the  order  of  the 
day.  The  Bogue  forts  had  to  be,  for  the  third 
time,  reduced.  It  is  worth  recording  here,  that  in 
July,  1844,  a  Chinese  mob  at  Canton  would  have 


156  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

burned  the  foreign  factories,  but  for  the  interfer- 
ence of  the  American  frigate  "  St.  Louis,"  which 
went  to  their  relief  from  Whampoa,  —  a  port  of 
call  distant  fifteen  miles  from  Canton.  The  Eng- 
lish at  the  time  had  a  strong  fleet  at  Hong  Kong, 
but  for  some  reason  they  took  no  interest  in  these 
repeated  calls  for  protection  from  the  Canton  mer- 
chants. However,  before  the  death  of  Taokwang, 
in  1850,  the  empire  had  begun  to  accommodate 
itself  to  the  new  state  of  affairs,  and  the  "  foreign 
devils  "  had  made  themselves  quite  at  home  within 
the  five  treaty  ports. 

From  this  date  on,  China  may  be  considered  as 
belonging  to  the  sisterhood  of  nations,  and  her 
history  a  part  of  the  world's  history.  Although 
from  an  international  point  of  view  the  most  inter- 
esting event  of  Taokwang's  reign  was  the  strug- 
gle that  led  up  to  the  opening  of  the  treaty  ports, 
it  must  not  be  understood  that  it  was  free  from  in- 
ternal rebellions,  secret  societies,  insurrections,  and 
court  cabals.  In  fact,  the  seeds  of  the  great 
Taiping  rebellion,  that  shook  the  empire  to  its 
very  center,  were  sown  and  nurtured  during  the 
last  years  of  his  reign.  The  murder  of  the  gover- 
nor of  Macao,  M.  Amaral,  which  was  incited  by 
the  Canton  viceroy,  was  the  means  of  losing  to 
China  the  suzerainty  of  the  Portuguese  colony. 


AMERICAN  COMMERCE.  157 

The  American  trade  to  China  commenced 
shortly  after  the  Revolutionary  War.  The  first 
recorded  facts  regarding  it  date  from  the  season 
of  178-1:-1785,  at  which  time  two  American  ships, 
the  "Empress  of  China,"  John  Green,  master,  with 
Major  Samuel  Shaw  of  Boston,  late  aide-de-camp 
to  General  Knox,  as  supercargo,  and  the  "  Pallas," 
which  was  consigned  to  Robert  Morris,  one  of 
the  signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
were  loaded  at  Canton  for  the  United  States. 
Among  the  other  cargo  they  carried  880,100 
pounds  of  tea.  The  next  season  there  was  only 
one  vessel  at  Canton,  which  exported  695,000 
pounds  of  tea.  In  1786-1787  there  were  six 
ships  engaged  in  the  trade ;  viz.,  "  Hope,"  "  Ex- 
periment," "  Grand  Turk,"  "  Jenny,"  "  Washing- 
ton," and  "  Asia,"  which  carried  tea  to  the  extent 
of  1,181,860  pounds. 

During  the  season  of  1832-1833  there  were 
fifty-nine  American  ships  at  Canton.  The  car- 
goes they  brought  are  rather  interesting,  as  they 
show  to  a  certain  extent  what  demand  had  devel- 
oped among  the  Chinese  for  American  goods. 
The  principal  items  were  quicksilver,  lead,  iron, 
copper,  tin-plates,  opium,  ginseng,  rice,  broad- 
cloth, camlets,  chintzes,  cambrics,  velvets,  bomba- 
zettes,  fancy  handkerchiefs,  linen,  cotton  drilling. 


158  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

yarn,  and  prints,  sea-otter,  fox  and  seal  skins, 
pearl  shells,  sandalwood,  cochineal,  music-boxes, 
clocks,  and  watches.  If  we  add  to  this  list 
American  flour  and  kerosene  oil,  it  will  cover  all 
our  exports  to  the  China  of  to-day.  Evidently 
these  early  Boston  merchants  had  a  keen  eye  for 
Chinese  peculiarities,  and,  unlike  many  of  our  mod- 
em merchants,  did  not  waste  tlieir  time  and  money 
in  trying  to  sell  them  something  they  did  not 
want. 

The  growth  of  trade  between  the  United  States 
and  Canton  was  steady  and  encouraging.  In 
1805  American  sailing-vessels  brought  into  the 
country  f5,326,358  worth  of  American  goods, 
and  bought  $5,127,000  worth  of  tea,  silk,  camphor, 
etc.  In  1833  these  imports  had  increased  to 
18,362,971,  and  the  exports  to  America  to  18,372,- 
175.  Mr.  Forbes  remained  consul  at  Canton 
until  1855,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  Oliver  H. 
Perry  of  Massachusetts. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  in  this  connection  that 
the  first  official  commercial  trade  report  on  China 
that  was  ever  submitted  to  the  United  States 
Congress  was  written  by  Major  Shaw,  the  talented 
supercargo  of  the  "  Empress  of  China."  His  ship 
arrived  in  New  York,  i\Iay  11,  1785,  and  shortly 
after  Shaw  addressed  an  able  and  very  interesting 


THE  SHAW  TREATY,  159 

history  of  the  voyage  to  John  Jay,  secretary  of 
state,  and  an  earnest  worker  for  American  develop- 
ment. Mr.  Jay  laid  the  Shaw  treaty  before  Con- 
gress, and  that  body  resolved :  "  That  Congress 
feels  a  peculiar  satisfaction  in  the  successful  issue 
of  this  first  effort  of  the  citizens  of  America  to 
establish  a  direct  trade  with  China,  which  does  so 
much  honor  to  its  undertakers  and  conductors." 


160  CHINA'S   OPEN  BOOR. 


VIII. 


FROM    THE    TAIPING    REBELLION 
TO    THE   CHUFOO   CONVENTION, 

[A.D.  1857 -A.D.  1876.] 

WHEN  Hienfung  came  to  the  throne  he 
found  himself  confronted  with  pro- 
bably the  last  of  the  old-fashioned 
rebellions  that  wiU  ever  devastate  all  China. 
To-day  all  '  parts  of  the  empire  are  connected 
by  the  telegraph,  steamers  force  the  currents 
of  the  swiftest  rivers,  and  a  small  body  of 
ill-paid  imperial  troops,  with  modern  arms  in 
their  hands,  would  soon,  if  they  did  not  decide 
to  join  hands  with  the  rebels,  quiet  a  mob  of 
peasantry  armed  with  scythes  and  gingalls. 
Before  the  introduction  of  the  telegraph  a 
leader  like  Hung  Hsiutsuan,  the  "  Heavenly 
King  "  of  the  Taipings,  could  collect  about  him  a 
few  thousand  malcontents,  swoop  down  on  a  city, 
add  it  to  his  force,  and  continue  without  much 
opposition  until  one  or  more  provinces  and  an 
army  of   200,000  men  stood  at  his  back^  before 


THE   TAIPING  REBELLION.  161 

the  imperial  ears  at  Peking  had  received  a  hint  as 
to  the  disturbance.  It  will  be  noted  that  nearly- 
all  Chinese  rebellions  originate  in  a  frontier  or 
remote  province.  The  neighborhood  of  Canton 
has  always  been  a  fertile  germinating  ground.  The 
raison  d'etre  for  a  rebellion  is  always  plunder ;  the 
excuse,  reform,  and  the  overthrow  of  the  ruling 
dynasty. 

The  Taipings'  cry  was,  "  Down  with  the  Tar- 
tar." Their  platform  was  "  purity  " ;  and  their 
leader  professed  to  be  a  Christian,  and  to  receive 
revelations  direct  from  God.  He  called  his  sect 
the  "  Association  of  the  Almighty."  Starting  in 
the  neighborhood  of  Canton,  the  rebels  occupied 
the  cities  of  Lienchow,  Yunganchow,  and  Nanking. 
The  Viceroy  Yeh  of  Canton  was  thoroughly 
alarmed,  and  prepared  for  a  vigorous  defense ;  but 
Hung  feared  to  risk  a  set-back,  and  marched  from 
Kwangtung  province  into  Hunan,  and  on  March 
8,  1853,  established  himself  in  Nanking,  which 
he  made  his  capital.  Hung  proclaimed  himself 
emperor,  and  by  the  same  authority  created  five 
of  his  chiefs  princes  of  the  new  Taiping  dynasty. 
The  luxury  of  the  palaces  of  Nanking  proved  too 
much  for  this  son  of  the  soil  and  fanatical  dreamer, 
and  as  a  factor  in  the  subsequent  events  he  was 
lost.     Two  months  later  a  force  was  dispatched 


162  CHINA'S   OPEN  BOOR. 

to  storm  Peking,  for  without  possession  of  the 
imperial  city  no  rebel  king  could  stand  before  his 
followers  as  a  king  in  anything  more  than  name. 
It  was  a  perilous  undertaking,  and  Hung  and  his 
generals  ought  to  have  been  contented  with  one- 
half  of  the  empire.  The  distance  was  over  one 
thousand  miles ;  and  even  if  the  imperial  troops 
were  paralyzed  with  fear,  there  were  great  rivers 
to  ford  and  mountains  to  cross  without  pontoon- 
trains,  engineer  corps,  or  commissariat. 

The  march  was  a  daring  one,  yet  it  reflects 
more  discredit  on  the  imperial  forces  than  on  the 
invaders.  In  six  months'  time  the  rebels  had 
traversed  four  provinces,  taken  twenty-six  cities, 
subsisted  on  the  enemy,  and  finally  intrenched 
themselves  near  Tientsin,  within  a  hundred  miles 
of  Peking.  Here,  however,  they  found  their 
Capua,  and  seemed  to  lose  all  desire  to  possess 
the  capital.  For  two  years  this  vast  army  gave 
itself  up  to  raids  and  wholesale  robberies,  at  the 
end  of  which  time  it  drifted  back  to  Nanking  a 
disorganized  mass.  It  was  at  this  time  that  the 
now  celebrated  statesman,  Li  Hung  Chang,  first 
came  on  the  scene  as  colonel  of  a  volunteer  regi- 
ment. He  did  not,  however,  have  an  opportunity 
to  make  a  reputation  as  a  soldier. 

Not  satisfied  with  the  lessons  that  had  been 


ALLIES  ENTER   PEKING.  163 

taught  them  by  the  first  real  contest  with  West- 
ern arms,  or  deterred  by  the  victorious  march  of 
the  Taipings,  China  rushed  bhndly  into  a  war 
with  England  and  France  that  revealed  to  the 
world  all  her  rottenness  and  sham. 

The  day  the  allies  entered  Peking,  and  put  the 
torch  to  the  emperor's  palace,  the  carefully  built  up 
prestige  of  China  departed ;  from  her  high  estate 
she  fell  to  the  level  of  her  tributary  nations  of 
Korea,  Burma,  and  Turkestan.  For  two  hundred 
years  she  had  treated  the  Occidentals  as  the  dirt 
under  her  feet,  and  had  looked  upon  all  the  earth 
as  little  more  than  barbarian  frontiers.  As  in  her 
previous  wars  with  the  Kins,  the  Khitans,  and  the 
Mongols,  the  Son  of  Heaven  was  not  permitted  to 
be  disturbed  in  his  fancied  security  until  his 
sacred  person  was  in  actual  momentary  danger; 
and  then,  as  usual,  he  ignominiously  fled,  and  per- 
mitted events  to  take  their  own  course.  The 
English  soon  discovered  that  taking  and  retaking 
the  defenses  of  Canton,  the  occupation  of  small 
tracts  of  territory  like  Hong  Kong  Island,  or  the 
placing  of  a  ransom  on  the  provincial  capital  itself, 
made  little  impression  on  the  imperial  court,  and 
if  they  ever  expected  to  be  fully  recognized  as  an 
equal,  and  be  protected  in  trade,  the  final  battle 
must  be  fought  in  Peking  itself ;  so  in  1856  and 


164  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

1857,  when  the  Viceroy  Yeh  of  Canton,  under  in- 
structions from  the  Peking  government,  inaugur- 
ated a  high-handed  and  brutal  pohcy  in  his  dealings 
with  the  foreign  merchants,  the  British  govern- 
ment did  not  rest  with  the  capture  of  the  Bogue 
forts,  the  occupation  of  Canton,  and  the  banish- 
ment of  the  haughty  Yeh.  The  time  had  come 
when  China  must  be  forced  to  enter  into  a  treaty 
that  forever  safeguarded  the  rights  of  all  foreign- 
ers, or  fight.  Lord  Elgin  and  Baron  Gros,  repre- 
senting the  English  and  French  forces,  addressed 
a  letter  to  Yu,  the  first  member  of  the  Privy 
Council,  demanding  that  a  commission  should 
meet  at  Shanghai  to  discuss  conditions  of  peace. 

Mr.  William  B.  Reed,  American  minister,  and 
his  Russian  colleague,  wrote  the  council  in  the 
same  line.  The  reply  was,  as  might  be  expected, 
evasive  and  unsatisfactory.  The  British  fleet, 
early  in  May,  1857,  under  the  command  of  Ad- 
miral Sir  Michael  Seymour,  proceeded  to  the 
Peiho,  reduced  the  Taku  forts,  and  anchored  be- 
fore Tientsin.  The  ease  with  which  the  impreg- 
nable Taku  forts  had  been  knocked  to  pieces  by 
the  English  guns  caused  great  consternation  in 
Peking ;  and  the  emperor  made  haste  to  conclude 
a  treaty  with  Lord  Elgin,  whereby  the  English 
were   permitted  to  have   a  resident   minister   in 


BOMBARDMENT  OF   TJKU.  165 

Peking,  the  ports  of  Newchwang,  Tengchow, 
Formosa,  Swatow,  and  Kienchow  were  opened, 
and  the  opium  traffic  was  legalized.  The  treaty 
was  signed  on  June  26, 1857.  The  United  States, 
France,  and  Russia  completed  similar  treaties  im- 
mediately after. 

The  Chinese,  however,  considered  that  the  treaty 
had  been  wrung  from  them  by  force,  and  its  ratifi- 
cation was  evaded  and  delayed.  In  Canton  mobs 
were  incited  to  murder  foreigners,  and  a  reward 
of  thirty  thousand  dollars  was  placed  on  the  head 
of  the  British  consul,  Harry  Parks.  As  a  last 
resource,  the  wily  Celestial  tried  to  induce  the 
English  and  French  to  have  their  treaties  ratified 
at  Shanghai  instead  of  at  Peking;  but  Messrs. 
Bruce  and  Bourboulon  declined,  and  ordered  their 
allied  forces  to  assemble  off  the  mouth  of  the 
Peiho.  The  Chinese,  finding  that  evasion  was  no 
longer  possible,  determined  once  more  to  try  their 
fortunes  on  the  battlefield.  The  allies  soon  dis- 
covered that,  while  they  had  been  making  useless 
treaties,  the  enemy  had  been  working  day  and 
night  on  the  defenses  of  Taku,  and  blocking  the 
river  with  massive  booms,  iron  stakes,  and  rafts. 
On  the  night  of  June  23,  1859,  one  of  the  booms 
was  blown  up ;  and  the  next  day  the  British  fleet, 
under  Admiral  Hope,  attempted  to  force  the  pas- 


166  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

sage,  while  a  force  of  six  hundred  marines  and 
engineers  stormed  the  forts.  Both  attacks  were 
unsuccessful,  and  the  British  were  repulsed  with 
very  severe  losses.  It  was  during  this  engage- 
ment that  the  now  famous  phrase,  "blood  is 
thicker  than  water,"  was  born.  The  American 
commodore,  Tatnal,  was  present  at  the  engage- 
ment ;  and  seeing  that  the  battle  was  going  badly 
for  the  English,  and  that  their  gunboats  were 
being  rapidly  disabled  by  the  heavy  fire  from  the 
forts,  was  unable  to  stand  calmly  by  and  see  the 
men  of  his  own  flesh  and  blood  mowed  down. 
He  ordered  his  flagship  to  tow  the  English  boats 
into  action,  and  to  remain  under  fire  as  long  as 
there  was  anyone  to  rescue.  When  called  upon 
for  an  explanation  of  his  conduct,  he  replied  that 
"  blood  was  thicker  than  water." 

The  initial  success  of  the  Chinese  was  the  very 
worst  thing  that  could  have  happened  to  them.  It 
convinced  them  that  their  former  reverses  had 
been  simply  the  result  of  bad  leadership,  and  con- 
firmed them  in  their  determination  to  repudiate 
the  treaty.  Mr.  John  E.  Ward,  who  in  1859  had 
succeeded  Mr.  Reed  as  American  minister,  was 
invited  by  the  governor-general  of  Chihli  to  come 
to  Pehtang,  who  promised  to  send  him  in  safety 
to  Peking,  where  the  ratifying  of  the  treaty  could 


MR.  WARD'S   TRIAL.  167 

be  discussed.  The  viceroy  was  as  good  as  his 
word  as  far  as  sending  him  to  Peking  was  con- 
cerned ;  but  it  was  done  only  to  amuse  the  people 
along  the  route  by  making  a  spectacle  of  one  of 
the  hated  barbarians.  Not  a  word  was  said  re- 
garding the  ratification  of  the  treaty;  and  after 
being  made  grave  sport  of  by  the  imperial  com- 
missioner at  Peking,  he  was  returned  "  right  side 
up  with  care,"  to  Pehtang,  where  he  foolishly  con- 
sented to  ratify  the  treaty  on  August  16,  1859. 

It  was  a  weak  and  unnecessary  concession 
on  his  part,  as  he  should  have  stood  out  with 
the  English  and  French  plenipotentiaries,  and 
ordered,  if  necessary,  the  American  squadron  to 
join  with  the  allies  in  forcing  the  Celestials  to 
abide  by  the  strict  letter  of  the  law.  A  ridiculous 
rumor,  illustrated  by  appropriate  pictures,  respect- 
ing this  journey,  was  circulated  in  Paris,  to  the 
effect  that  Mr.  Ward  and  his  party  were  conducted 
from  the  coast  in  an  immense  box,  or  traveling- 
chamber,  drawn  over  land  by  oxen,  and  then  put 
on  a  raft  to  be  towed  up  the  river  and  imperial 
canal  as  far  as  the  gate  of  the  capital.  Fortu- 
nately for  the  future  of  trade  in  China,  the  Eng- 
hsh  and  French  ministers  would  not  submit  to  the 
indignities  enjoyed  by  Mr.  Ward ;  and  in  March, 
1860,  the  English  minister,  Bruce,  presented  an 


168  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

ultimatum,  demanding  reparation  for  the  treacher- 
ous attack  at  Taku,  and  an  immediate  fulfillment 
of  the  treaty.  The  ultimatum  only  provoked  a 
sneer  from  Peking;  and  by  August  12  of  the 
same  year  a  force  of  thirteen  thousand  English, 
under  Sir  Hope  Grant,  seven  thousand  French, 
commanded  by  General  Montauban,  and  two  thou- 
sand five  hundred  Cantonese  Coolies,  advanced 
from  the  land  side  on  the  Taku  forts. 

The  attack  was  without  precedent  in  Chinese 
military  science, —  certainly  it  was  only  the  fair 
thing  for  the  barbarians  to  attack  as  they  had 
before,  on  the  river  front.  The  Chinese  general, 
Sankolinsin,  was  thunderstruck  when  he  saw  the 
allied  force  on  land,  and  marching  rapidly  on  the 
undefended  side  of  his  forts ;  but  like  a  good  Chi- 
nese general  he  immediately  wrote  his  imperial 
kinsman  and  master  that  the  barbarians  had  landed 
with  his  full  knowledge  and  consent,  as  he  wished 
to  entice  them  away  from  their  ships,  and  then 
overwhelm  them.  The  Son  of  Heaven  readily  saw 
the  astuteness  of  the  scheme,  and  SankoUnsin 
might  have  won  a  peacock  feather  and  a  yellow 
jacket  had  the  last  part  of  his  plan  of  campaign 
worked  as  well  as  the  first.  Unfortunately  for  him, 
however,  he  did  not  take  the  allies  into  his  confi- 
dence ;  and  they,  not  understanding  his  wily  strat- 


CAPTURE   OF   TIENTSIN.  169 

egj,  never  stopped  in  their  march  until  the  Taku 
forts  were  in  their  hands.  The  battle  was  a  stub- 
bornly contested  one,  the  Chinese  standing  to 
their  guns  manfully,  even  after  their  officers  had 
deserted.  The  allies  occupied  Tientsin,  and  de- 
clined to  receive  any  overtures  from  the  imperial 
commissioners  as  long  as  the  Chinese  forces  were 
preparing  to  resist  their  advance  to  the  capital. 

On  the  9th  of  September  the  allies  left  Tientsin 
for  Tungchow ;  and  on  the  way  they  were  met  by 
Tsai,  prince  of  I,  who  was  most  convincing  in  his 
protestations  that  the  Son  of  Heaven  was  anxious 
for  an  honorable  peace.  Unfortunately  again  for 
Chinese  diplomacy.  Consul  Parkes,  on  an  early 
morning  ride,  discovered  that  the  troops  of  the 
amusing  Sankolinsin  were  so  disposed  in  ambush 
that  they  would  be  able  to  fire  upon  the  allies' 
next  proposed  camp  from  three  sides.  Parkes  dis- 
patched his  companion.  Loch,  to  warn  Sir  Hope 
Grant,  while  he  hurried  to  the  quarters  of  the 
Prince  of  I  to  demand  an  explanation.  His 
temerity  cost  him  his  liberty  and  nearly  his  Ufe ; 
and  the  Ciiinese  forces,  throwing  off  all  pretenses 
of  peace,  fought  the  battle  of  Changchiawan,  in 
which  they  suffered  a  crushing  defeat.  Sankolin- 
sin made  a  last  stand  at  Palichiao  on  September 
21,  but  he  was  not  able  to  turn  the  allies  from 


170  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

Peking.  In  the  meantime  the  emperor  had  fled 
to  Jehol,  and  left  his  brother,  Prince  Kung,  in 
command.  Kung  informed  Elgin  and  Gros  that 
he  had  full  power  to  conclude  a  treaty,  and  asked 
for  an  armistice.  The  commissioners,  however, 
had  had  quite  enough  of  Chinese  diplomacy,  and 
declined  to  cease  hostilities  until  Consul  Parkes 
and  his  associates  were  released.  No  answer  was 
made ;  and  the  order  was  given  to  march  on  Peking, 
and  occupy  the  emperor's  summer  palace,  Yuen- 
Ming-Yuen.  This  had  the  desired  effect,  as  far  as 
such  of  the  prisoners  were  concerned,  as  had  been 
fortunate  enough  to  live  through  the  hardships, 
brutality,  and  tortures  of  their  prisons. 

The  sight  of  the  sufferings  of  the  survivors 
of  the  original  thirty  aroused  such  indignation 
throughout  the  allied  army  that  the  commissioners 
in  addition  to  the  one  hundred  thousand  pounds 
that  they  demanded  as  an  indemnity  for  the  fam- 
ilies of  the  murdered  men,  decided  to  destroy  the 
beautiful  summer  palace.  This  was  done  after 
the  occupation  of  Peking.  The  game  was  now 
entirely  in  the  hands  of  the  allies ;  and  it  is  hardly 
necessary  to  state  that  the  Tientsin  treaty  was 
ratified  within  the  sacred  walls  of  Peking,  in  spite 
of  the  theatrical  raving  of  the  imperial  coward  at 
Jehol.     A  convention  was   also    signed  whereby 


CESSION  OF  HONG   KONG.  171 

China  paid  eight  million  taels  for  war  expenses, 
and  ceded  to  Great  Britain  the  Kowloon  coast- 
line, directly  opposite  to  Hong  Kong.  The  Eng- 
lish were  entirely  too  modest  in  their  demands  in 
this  cession.  Had  they  taken  ten  times  as  much 
territory  on  the  mainland,  it  would  have  saved 
them  much  future  trouble.  The  size  of  the  ces- 
sion, however,  was  controlled  by  the  range  of  the 
cannon  of  1860,  the  best  of  which  would  carry 
little  farther  than  across  the  strait  which  separates 
the  mainland  from  the  island  of  Hong  Kong. 

With  this  narrow  strip  added  to  the  colony,  the 
EngUsh  military  experts  of  the  time  announced 
that  Hong  Kong  was  strategically  secure.  Less 
than  twenty  years  after,  it  was  discovered  that 
Hong  Kong  was  at  the  mercy  of  the  modern 
guns  of  a  fleet  lying  perfectly  protected  by 
a  range  of  intervening  mountains  seven  miles 
distant.  The  result  was  that  England  was  forced 
in  1898  to  ask,  or  rather  demand,  the  lease  of  an 
additional  area  of  territory  embracing  Mir's  and 
Deep  Bays.  Any  demand  for  territory  after  the 
fall  of  Peking  would  have  been  speedily  met  by 
the  emperor,  and  England  might  have  added  half 
the  delta  of  the  Pearl  River  to  her  list  of  colonial 
possessions.  Even  in  the  cession  of  the  last  four 
hundred   square  miles   England   erred  in   taking 


172  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

either  too  little  or  too  much.  For  military  pur- 
poses half  the  territory  would  have  been  sufficient, 
and  easily  defended;  for  agricultural  purposes, 
two  hundred  square  miles  additional  would  have 
made  the  new  territory  self-supporting.  However, 
the  Englishman  is  a  thorough-going  colonist,  and 
a  believer  in  "  good  roads;"  and  the  ink  was  hardly 
dry  on  the  so-called  lease  before  a  small  army  of 
Chinese  coolies  were  cutting  a  great  turnpike 
through  the  very  heart  of  the  sterile  peninsula, 
and  the  forestry  department  was  planting  trees  by 
the  thousands  over  the  barren  red  hills.  In  April, 
1898,  my  big  tug-boat,  the  "  Fame,"  was  nearly 
wrecked  in  trying  to  carry  dispatches  to  Dewey's 
fleet,  which  lay  in  Chinese  waters  but  seven  miles 
away  as  the  crow  flies,  but  fifty  miles  by  sea. 
Within  three  months  after  the  occupation  of  this 
mountainous,  roadless  stretch  of  land,  I  rode  my 
bicycle  in  an  hour  to  the  shore  of  IMir's  Bay,  over 
a  broad  macadamized  road.  Yet  we  refuse  to 
take  advantage  of  England's  colonial  experience 
in  solving  our  troubles  in  the  Philippines. 

In  passing  upon  Russia's  course  in  China  from 
the  same  date  (1860)  no  like  hesitancy  or  lack  of 
policy  can  be  laid  at  her  door.  From  the  day 
when  she  obtained  her  foothold  on  the  uninhabited 
steppes  between  Usuri  and  the  ocean,  she  never 


RUSSIAN  EXPANSION.  173 

wavered  in  her  unmistakable  determination  to 
obtain  an  open  seaport  on  the  Pacific.  In  the  be- 
ginning Russia  may  not  have  appreciated  the 
wealth  and  possibilities  of  the  land  that  she  was 
absorbing  from  year  to  year,  but  that  was  a 
question  that  she  could  well  afford  to  leave  for 
future  investigation.  She  expanded  on  the  line  of 
least  resistance,  and  all  was  fish  that  came  to  her 
net.  Neither  did  Russia  worry  herself  regarding 
the  populating  or  improving  of  these  vast  tracts, 
and  until  twenty  years  ago  the  land  remained  as 
she  found  it.  Her  clearly  defined  pohcy  has 
always  been  to  never  look  a  gift-horse  in  the 
mouth,  and  to  thankfully  receive  every  thing  that 
came  her  way.  The  freedom  of  the  serf,  which  at 
the  time  was  looked  upon  as  the  harmless  fad  of 
an  amiable  emperor,  supplied  the  wanting  popula- 
tion. The  freed  peasantry  of  Russia  eagerly  ac- 
cepted government  aid  to  get  away  from  their 
former  masters,  and  the  traditions  of  their  old 
land  of  bondage ;  and  in  a  surprisingly  short  time 
they  transformed  Siberia  from  a  penal  colony 
to  a  prosperous  dependency  that  is  fast  becoming 
to  the  empire  what  Australia  is  to  Great  Britain. 
The  net  result  of  this  onward  policy  to-day  is 
the  practically  completed  trans-Siberian  railway 
and  the  acquisition  of  Port  Arthur  and  Tailewan ; 


174  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

to-morrow  it  may  be  Peking  and  the  Yangtsze 
valley.  Great  Britain,  Germany,  and  France  lease 
a  few  hundred  square  miles  each  ;  and  while  they 
are  arguing  over  the  terms,  Russia  quietly  extends 
her  frontiers  to  cover  half  the  province. 

The  fortunes  of  the  Taipings  rose  and  fell  from 
year  to  year.  They  were  at  high  tide  in  1860 ;  and 
the  Manchus,  despairing  of  ever  regaining  their 
sway,  appealed  to  the  foreigners  with  whom  they 
had  lately  been  at  war  to  come  to  their  assistance. 
At  the  suggestion  of  Li  Hung  Chang,  now  viceroy, 
the  Chinese  merchants  of  Shanghai  organized 
themselves  into  a  patriotic  association,  raised  a 
fund,  and  engaged  two  Americans,  Ward  and 
Burgevine,  to  form  a  foreign  legion,  for  the  protec- 
tion of  the  city,  and  conduct  operations  against  the 
rebels.  Under  the  able  leadership  of  Ward,  the 
"ever  victorious  army"  of  four  hundred  adven- 
turers, of  all  nationahties,  captured  a  number  of 
cities,  and  obtained  as  their  reward  a  large  amount 
of  plunder ;  but  in  spite  of  high  pay  and  rich 
pickings,  Ward  found  it  necessary  to  lead  every 
attack  in  person  in  order  to  make  his  rabble  fight ; 
and  in  the  storming  of  the  city  of  Tzuki  he  was 
mortally  wounded.  He  was  succeeded  by  his 
lieutenant,  Burgevine,  who  made    war  upon    the 


"CHINESE   GORDONS  175 

purse  of  the  patriotic  association  rather  than  upon 
the  common  enemy,  and  ended  by  being  dismissed 
from  his  command  before  he  had  fought  a  battle. 
He  was  replaced  by  Major  Gordon,  who  was  lent 
by  the  British  general,  Stavely,  and  new  life  was 
given  to  the  discordant  element  of  the  ever  vic- 
torious army.  Gordon's  first  point  of  attack  was 
Fushan,  which  fell  an  easy  prey,  and  brought  about 
the  capitulation  of  Changshu.  Li  Hung  Chang 
was  naturally  delighted  with  his  allies,  and  the 
emperor  conferred  upon  Gordon  the  rank  of 
general  in  the  Chinese  service,  a  distinction  of 
which  Li  would  like  to  have  relieved  him  a  little 
later,  in  company  with  his  head. 

The  capture  of  Taitsang  and  Kunshan  opened 
the  way  to  the  important  city  of  Soochow.  On  a 
promise  from  Gordon  that  all  the  Uves  of  the  rebel 
commanders  would  be  spared,  the  city  capitulated. 
Li,  however,  paid  no  attention  to  his  subordinate's 
pUghted  word,  and  had  them  all  promptly  exe- 
cuted. When  the  report  of  Li's  bloodthirsty 
treachery  was  brought  to  Gordon,  he  was  so 
enraged  that  he  grasped  a  rifle,  and  started  for 
head-quarters.  Li,  however,  did  not  await  his  call, 
and  precipitately  decamped  before  Gordon  arrived. 
Gordon  was  not  a  philosopher,  and  not  being 
willing   to   overlook    Li's    act   as    an   interesting 


176  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

Chinese  characteristic,  sent  in  his  resignation.  I 
thought  of  this  episode  in  Li's  checkered  career  as 
I  talked  with  the  famous  Chinaman  one  day  in 
Hong  Kong,  when  he  was  on  his  way  to  Canton 
to  act  as  viceroy  of  the  Two  Kwangs.  Li  had 
been  descanting  for  an  hour  upon  the  injustice  we 
were  doing  his  countrymen  by  excluding  them 
from  the  Philippines.  His  last  words  to  me  were, 
"  TeU  General  Otis  that  Li  Hung  Chang  asks  him 
to  be  kind  to  the  Chinese."  I  could  not  but 
smile  at  the  pathos  in  his  voice  in  the  light  of  his 
history. 

For  the  fall  of  Soochow,  Li  received  from  the 
emperor  the  "  yellow  jacket "  that  he  lost  at  the 
close  of  the  late  Japanese  war.  He  was  also 
ordered  to  hand  Gordon  ten  thousand  taels  and 
the  military  button  of  the  first  rank.  Li  did  as 
ordered,  and  his  envoys  were  received  by  Gordon 
with  a  walking-stick,  and  were  soundly  thrashed  out 
of  his  tent.  Li  humbled  himself,  and  begged 
Gordon  to  consider  his  resignation.  In  a  short 
campaign  Gordon  reduced  the  Taiping  king,  and 
stripped  him  of  all  his  possessions  save  Nanking. 
The  imperial  army  under  Tseng  Kwofan,  the 
father  of  the  late  Marquis  Tseng,  who  afterwards 
represented  China  at  the  court  of  St.  James,  took 
that  city   by    assault.      The    "  heavenly    king  '* 


LI  HUNG   CHANG,  .       177 

poisoned  himself  with  gold  leaf,  and  his  heir  was 
beheaded  in  an  attempt  to  escape.  The  great 
Taiping  rebellion  was  at  an  end,  but  China  had 
learned  nothing.  Li  disbanded  the  ever  victorious 
army  in  June,  1864,  in  spite  of  Gordon's  protest; 
and  when  the  Japanese  war  broke  out  they  were 
as  absolutely  unprepared  to  meet  the  conditions  as 
though  they  were  still  living  in  the  pastoral  age. 

Li's  name  as  a  statesman  was  made  by  General 
Grant,  who  stated  that  Li  and  Bismarck  were  the 
two  greatest  minds  that  he  met  during  his  trip 
round  the  world.  Li,  however,  has  never  shown 
any  great  ability  save  as  a  "  trimmer."  To-day 
as  viceroy  of  Canton  he  is  not  able  to  suppress 
the  petty  piracy  on  the  West  River,  but  looks  to 
England  for  police  protection  for  his  inland  trade, 
and  plays  fast  and  loose  with  promises  of  protec- 
tion to  imprisoned  ministers  and  beleaguered  for- 
eigners. It  is  small  wonder  that  for  the  safety  of 
the  legations  shut  up  in  Peking  the  British  govern- 
ment seriously  considered  holding  the  crafty  old 
viceroy  as  hostage  in  Shanghai  for  the  safety  of 
the  fugitives  in  Peking. 

The  Chinese  have  added  the  bust  of  Marco  Polo 
to  their  pantheon  of  five  hundred  idols  in  Can- 
ton, but  alongside  of  Confucius  and  Polo  they 
should  place  Gordon  and  Ward.     The  present  dy- 


178  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

nasty  owes  more  to  these  last  men  than  they  can 
ever  repay,  although  during  their  lifetime  they 
tried  systematically  to  detract  from  their  glory, 
and  rob  them  of  all  credit.  Ward  gave  up  his  life 
in  their  cause,  and  Gordon  refused  the  proposal  of 
Burgevine  to  turn  the  "ever  victorious  army" 
against  the  imperialists,  and  acting  with  the  Taip- 
ings  grasp  the  tottering  throne  for  themselves. 
They  could  have  done  it,  and  Gordon  knew  it 
when  he  was  tempted.  Burgevine  knew  the 
Chinese  character  better  than  Gordon,  and  did  not 
permit  any  qualms  of  conscience  to  stand  in  his 
way.  Had  Gordon  consented,  the  entire  Chinese 
problem  would  have  been  solved  without  the  aid 
of  the  so-called  diplomacy  of  the  western  nations. 
Gordon  declined,  and  died  a  dog's  death  in  Khar- 
toom.  Li  lived  to  profit  by  Gordon's  honesty 
and  generosity. 

Hienfung  did  not  return  to  Peking  after  the 
ratification  of  the  Tientsin  Treaty.  He  was  too 
badly  upset  by  the  impertinence  of  the  barbarians ; 
and  although  strongly  urged  by  Prince  Kung  to 
do  so,  he  remained  at  Jehol  until  his  death,  on 
August  22,  1861.  As  his  heir  was  only  six  years 
old.  Prince  Kung,  who  had  come  to  an  underetand- 
ing  with  the  empress,  was  left  practically  supreme 
in  the  conduct  of  affairs,  although  he  formed  a 


CHINESE   ''BIPLOMACrr  179 

Council  of  Regency,  in  which  he  was  associated 
with  the  two  empress  dowagers,  —  the  widow  of 
Hienfung,  and  the  mother  of  the  young  emperor, 
—  a  concubine,  but  the  ruling  power  in  China 
in  1900. 

Until  the  young  emperor,  Tung  Chih,  reached 
his  sixteenth  birthday,  all  questions  as  to  the 
right  of  foreign  ministers  to  be  received  by  the 
emperor,  according  to  the  terms  of  the  treaty, 
were  fooHshly  held  in  abeyance.  The  war  of 
1860  had  taught  the  Chinese  that  they  were 
powerless  in  the  hands  of  the  barbarians ;  and  yet 
before  the  ink  was  dry  on  the  treaty,  secret  in- 
structions were  issued  to  the  provincial  govern- 
ment to  disregard  it  as  far  as  possible,  especially 
the  clause  that,  "  the  Chinese  authorities  shall  at 
all  times  afford  the  fullest  protection  to  the 
persons  and  property  of  British  subjects."  In 
diplomacy  the  Oriental  has  always,  in  the  begin- 
ning, been  more  than  a  match  for  the  Occidental. 
Metternich  or  Talleyrand  might  have  met  Li  Hung 
Chang,  or  the  smooth  oily  talkers  of  Aguinaldo's 
cabinet,  on  equal  terms,  but  I  doubt  it.  The 
Oriental's  idea  of  diplomacy  is  to  fool  his  adver- 
sary for  the  time  being,  regardless  of  the  future. 
The  Chinaman  goes  through  life  trying  to  fool 
his  God  with   simple   devices,  and  to   draw  the 


180  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

wool  over  the  eyes  of  his  superiors.  There  is 
only  one  kind  of  diplomacy  that  either  the 
Chinese  or  the  Filipino  understands,  and  that 
is  brute  force.  You  may  temper  it  with  justice, 
but  the  force  must  be  plainly  in  evidence.  Sweet 
words  and  assurances  of  esteem  are  not  believed 
by  the  Orientals,  and  are  accepted  as  an  indis- 
putable evidence  of  weakness.  This  phase  of 
diplomacy  is  unexpected  and  childlike,  and  it 
does  not  take  the  Occidental  diplomat  long  to 
value  it  at  its  real  worthj  but  by  the  time  .he 
comes  to  understand  the  Oriental,  he  is  with- 
drawn, and  a  successor  arrives  who  has  to  com- 
mence in  the  Kindergarten  class,  much  to  the 
delight  of  his  interested  opponents. 

The  real  reason  for  the  establishment  of  the 
Tsung  li  Yamen,  or  Foreign  Office,  was  to  provide 
an  air-cushion  against  which  the  missiles  thrown 
by  the  foreign  ministers  at  the  "  August  Lofty 
One,"  would  be  received  with  the  least  amount 
of  friction.  It  is  the  same  to-day  in  the  Philip- 
pine Islands.  Each  new  general  or  commission 
cannot  believe  that  the  Filipino  is  as  black  as 
he  is  painted  by  those  who  know  him  best,  or  that 
he  is  an  absolute  stranger  to  the  truth,  and  his 
argument  commences  on  that  basis.  By  the  time 
he  finds  that  he  has  been  making  a  fool  of  him- 


ANSON  BURLINGAME.  181 

self,  and  that  the  sweet-spoken  little  Filipino  is 
as  unconverted  as  ever,  his  tenure  of  office  ex- 
pires, or  he  resigns,  and  goes  home  in  disgust. 

It  was  right  in  line  with  this  class  of  diplomacy 
that  Prince  Kung,  in  1867,  persuaded  Mr.  Anson 
Burlingame,  the  United  States  Minister  at  Peking, 
to  resign,  and  accept  a  mission  to  all  Europe, 
whose  object  really  was  to  tell  the  world  how 
foolish  it  was  to  expect  the  Cliinese  to  carry 
out  to  the  letter  the  obnoxious  Tientsin  Treaty, 
and  also  to  inform  Europe  how  wise,  generous, 
and  high-spirited  the  dear  Chinese  really  were,  and 
how  sadly  they  were  misunderstood.  He  was  also 
to  promise  that  if  they  were  left  alone  they  would, 
of  their  own  sweet  wiU,  do  far  more  to  improve 
friendly  relations  than  if  they  were  continually 
brow-beaten  and  made  to  live  up  to  their  promises. 
Mr.  Burlingame  was  a  man  of  much  eloquence 
and  great  enthusiasm,  and  was  fast  making  con- 
verts in  high  places,  when  in  June,  1870,  the 
terrible  Tientsin  massacre  occurred,  which  was  so 
revolting  in  its  details  that  what  little  progress 
the  mission  had  made  was  irretrievably  lost.  On 
account  of  a  rumor  that  children  were  put  to 
death  in  the  French  Foundling  Hospital,  for  the 
sake  of  their  eyes,  which  were  made  into  opium, 
a  mob  burned   the   hospital,  outraged  and   mur- 


182  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

dered  the  Sisters  of  Mercy,  burned  the  French 
Consulate,  shot  the  consul,  and  murdered  in  the 
most  cruel  manner  eighteen  Frenchmen  and  two 
Russians. 

One  would  think  after  paying  for  this  outrage 
an  indemnity  of  half  a  million  dollars,  and  send- 
ing an  embassy  to  France  to  make  a  public 
apology,  that  the  Chinese  authorities  at  least 
would  have  published  in  their  Official  Gazette 
the  fact  that  foreign  Sisters  of  Mercy  did  not 
manufacture  opium  out  of  children's  eyes.  And 
yet,  strange  as  it  may  seem,  they  took  exactly 
the  opposite  course,  and  encouraged  the  fanati- 
cism of  the  common  people.  This  attitude  re- 
sulted in  the  deplorable  murder  of  Mr.  Margary, 
of  the  British  consular  service,  on  February  20, 
1875,  at  Momein.  With  the  full  consent  of  the 
Chinese  authorities,  and  suppHed  with  proper 
passports,  Mr.  Margary  and  Colonel  Brown  were 
traveling  through  Yunnan,  reporting  on  the  trade 
possibihties  of  the  country  after  the  ravages  of 
the  recent  Mohammedan  rebellion.  Their  mission 
was  distinctly  a  peaceful  one,  and  they  were 
neither  spies  nor  were  they  accused  of  being  such. 
Their  murder  was  the  simple  outburst  of  the 
fanaticism  of  the  Chinese  ;  and  had  the  latter  been 
Apaches,  instead  of  a  "refined,   intelligent,  and 


THE   CHEF 00    CONVENTION.  183 

civilized  nation,"  according  to  Mr.  Anson  Bur- 
lingame,  they  could  not  have  behaved  in  a  more 
barbarous  manner.  British  remonstrances  were 
met  by  the  Peking  officials  with  prevarications 
and  delays ;  and  it  was  not  until  Sir  Thomas 
Wade  lowered  the  Legation  Flag,  and  started  to 
leave  the  country,  that  the  Tsung  li  Yamen  awoke 
to  the  idea  that  their  bluff  was  about  to  be 
called.  Further  than  this,  the  mother  of  Tung 
Chi  had  no  desire  to  once  more  flee  from  Peking 
to  escape  the  guns  of  the  hated  foreigner.  Li 
Hung  Chang  was  dispatched  in  hot  haste  to  over- 
take Wade,  and  come  to  an  understanding  at 
any  cost. 

The  results  of  the  Chefoo  Convention  were 
the  sending  of  a  Chinese  minister  to  England,  the 
settlement  of  compensation  for  the  murder,  the 
opening  of  four  new  ocean  treaty  ports,  and 
six  on  the  Yangtsze.  Again  had  history  re- 
peated itself,  and  the  Chinese  had  shown  that 
they  understood  the  nature  of  an  ultimatum,  even 
if  they  could  not  appreciate  the  benefits  of  West- 
em  civilization. 


184  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 


IX. 

TUNG   CHI  AND    THE  REGENCY, 

[A.D.  1876 -A.D.  1898.] 


T" 


HE  marriage    of  Tung  Chi,  on  October 
.  16,  1872,  to  Aluteh,  and   the  attain- 

-*-  ment   of   his  majority  on  February  23, 

1873,  was  looked  upon  as  a  favorable  occasion 
for  the  pressing  of  the  audience  question  by  the 
resident  foreign  ministers.  After  considerable 
pressure,  the  long  delayed  event  took  place  ; 
and  on  the  29th  of  June,  1873,  the  American 
minister,  Mr.  Frederick  F.  Low,  and  the  ministers 
for  Germany,  France,  England,  and  Japan,  were 
graciously  admitted  to  the  celestial  presence. 
The  ceremony,  however,  was  largely  discounted 
by  the  fact  that  they  were  received  in  the  "  Pavil- 
ion of  Purple  Light,"  outside  the  palace  Avhere  the 
envoys  of  tributary  states  had  deposited  their 
offerings  from  time  immemorial.  In  order  to  save 
the  august  "  Face,"  a  report  was  disseminated 
throughout  the  provinces  that  Sir  Thomas  Wade, 


THE  ''DOOR"   SLOWLT  OPENS,       185 

the  British  minister,  was  so  overcome  with  fear  in 
the  presence  of  the  Son  of  Heaven  that  he  fell 
down  speechless  and  trembling  on  being  addressed 
by  the  emperor.  However,  the  door  was  being 
forced  slowly  open,  although  in  a  way  that  was 
not  always  creditable  to  the  Europeans. 

The  year  1873  saw  the  suppression  of  the  Mo- 
hammedan rebellion  in  Kansuh,  and  the  stamping 
out  of  the  terrible  Panthay  uprising  in  Yunnan. 
The  following  year  complications  occurred  in  For- 
mosa with  the  Japanese  because  of  the  murder 
of  fifty-four  Japanese  sailors  by  the  Formosans. 
Unable  to  obtain  satisfaction  from  the  Chinese,  the 
Japanese  landed  a  force  in  Formosa,  and  war  would 
have  immediatelv  followed  but  for  the  arbitration 
of  Sir  Thomas  Wade. 

Tung  Chi  did  not  live  long  to  enjoy  his  lease  of 
supreme  power.  He  showed  a  disposition  to  ex- 
ercise the  imperial  prerogative  of  doing  as  he 
pleased,  and  died  conveniently  of  the  small-pox  on 
the  12th  of  January,  1875.  The  only  person  who 
now  stood  between  the  empress  mother,  Tsu  Tsi, 
and  her  ambition  was  Aluteh  and  her  unborn  child. 
But  Fate,  which,  as  has  often  been  said,  is  under 
government  control  in  China,  interposed,  and  the 
girl  widow  was  saved  many  years  of  persecution 
by  a  premature  death.     Knowing  how  necessary 


186  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

it  was  to  the  success  of  Tsu  Tsi's  policy  that  the 
young  empress  should  die,  no  one  was  surprised, 
and  no  inconvenient  questions  were  asked. 

The  transfer  of  the  imperial  yellow  from  the 
shoulders  of  one  royal  puppet  to  another  created 
historically  a  new  reign ;  otherwise  it  was  an  event 
without  significance  in  Peking.  The  old  triumvi- 
rate had  simply  chosen  a  new  figure-head  for  the 
Junk  of  State.  The  officers,  the  crew,  and  the  pilot 
were  the  same.  So  sure  were  the  two  empress- 
dowagers  that  Aluteh  would  die  of  a  "broken 
heart"  before  the  delivery  of  her  unborn  child, 
that  they  did  not  even  wait  for  the  event  to  take 
place,  but  without  regard  to  time-honored  customs 
chose  Tung  Chi's  successor.  The  three-year  old 
son  of  Prince  Chun,  a  younger  brother  of  Prince 
Kung,  was  raised  to  the  unenviable  position,  and 
given  the  ironical  title  of  Kwang  Su, — "brilliant 
succession."  Having  now  guaranteed  the  perma- 
nency of  the  Regency  by  this  successful  coup  d  ''etat 
for  another  term  of  years,  Tsu  Tsi  felt  that  she 
was  fully  capable  of  conducting  the  affairs  of  state 
without  the  aid  of  her  dowager  consort.  So,  as 
might  have  been  expected,  that  August  Lady  died 
in  1881  of  heart  failure,  "  which  nobody  can  deny," 
and  the  ex-concubine  of  Hienfung  became  the  su- 
preme director  of  the  empire,  and  as  such  made  a 


RISE  OF   TSU  TSL  187 

place  for  herself  in  history  by  the  side  of  the  great 
Empress  Wu.  Tsu  Tsi's  favorite,  Li  Hung  Chang, 
was  at  once  put  in  training  to  succeed  Prince 
Kung ;  and  in  July,  1884,  the  trouble  with  France 
in  Tonking  furnished  an  opportunity  to  dispose  of 
the  veteran  statesman. 

Li's  elevation  was  contrary  to  precedent,  as  the 
post  had  always  been  filled  by  a  Manchu  ;  but  Tsu 
Tsi  could  not  be  expected  to  respect  the  customs 
of  a  nation  that  permitted  itself  to  be  ruled  by  a 
woman  of  her  character  and  antecedents.  She  even 
called  Prince  Chun,  the  father  of  the  emperor,  to 
serve  under  Li  as  first  minister  of  state,  although 
according  to  ancestral  rites  a  father  cannot  take 
orders  from  his  son.  Prince  Chun  accepted  the 
post;  but  instead  of  playing  the  docile  subject  of 
the  royal  dummy,  he  asserted  his  rights  as  a  father 
and  an  ancestor,  and  acquired  an  influence  for 
good  over  the  half-grown  boy.  In  this  he  was 
assisted  by  the  Marquis  Tseng,  who  had  just  re- 
turned from  the  Court  of  St.  James  with  his  head 
filled  with  nineteenth  century  ideas.  Together 
they  schemed  to  woo  the  boy  from  the  corrupting 
influences  of  the  dowager  and  Li,  and  through  him 
to  inaugurate  a  more  enlightened  poUcy  in  China. 
The  fashion  of  sending  a  dangerous  noble  his  silken 
cord  had  become  unfashionable  in  China  since  the 


188  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

arrival  of  the  barbarians ;  but  the  fashion  of  dying 
of  "  broken  heart "  and  "  heart  failure  "  served  the 
same  purpose.  In  1890  Marquis  Tseng,  in  the 
prime  of  life,  and  while  in  splendid  health,  died, 
and  a  few  months  later  Prince  Chun  passed  away. 
The  power  of  the  Dowager  Empress  was  not 
again  questioned,  until  the  shock  of  the  Japanese 
war  loosened  for  a  time  her  grasp  upon  the  throne. 
A  year  after  the  placing  of  Kwang  Su  on  the 
throne,  the  government  found  itself  face  to  face 
with  a  Mohammedan  rebellion.  The  inhabitants 
of  Turkestan  had  never  been  happy  in  their  vas- 
salage, and  since  the  last  abortive  attempt  in  1825 
to  obtain  their  independence  under  the  leadership 
of  Jehangir,  a  descendant  of  their  royal  line,  the 
people  had  been  preparing  for  another  trial.  A  son 
of  Jehangir  had  headed  a  rebellion,  and  with  the  aid 
of  his  able  general,  Yakoob  Khan,  driven  the  Chi- 
nese out  of  Khokand,  and  for  a  time  re-established 
his  line.  But  in  1866  Yakoob  deposed  his  king, 
and  placed  the  crown  on  his  own  brow,  and  became 
known  as  "  The  Champion  Father."  He  subdued 
Western  Kashgaria,  reduced  the  neighboring 
tribes,  and  created  for  himself  an  empire  that  bade 
fair  to  be  permanent.  The  Russians,  pretending 
to  believe  that  the  imperial  troops  were  not  able 
to   re-assert   their  sovereignty  over   this   section, 


THE   ''CHAMPION  FATHER."  189 

served  notice  on  the  Chinese  government  that  they 
intended  to  occupy  the  trade  routes  until  such 
time  as  China  was  able  to  protect  them.  A  Rus- 
sian force  seized  Kuldja  and  its  tributary  country, 
and  held  it  until  1881,  when  it  was  surrendered  to 
Cliina,  with  the  exception  of  a  strip  of  territory  on 
the  extreme  western  boundary  of  the  province  of 
Hi.  She  also  exacted  the  payment  of  a  war  indem- 
nity of  9,000,000  roubles. 

Yakoob  Khan's  example  was  followed  by  the 
Dunganis  tribe  of  eastern  Turkestan,  which  over- 
ran the  Tienshan  mountains,  and  flowed  into  the 
provinces  of  Kansuh  and  Shensi.  These  uninter- 
rupted successes  aroused  the  imperial  government 
to  the  seriousness  of  the  situation,  and  General 
Tso  was  dispatched  with  a  big  force  to  try  and 
save  western  China  to  the  empire.  By  the  end  of 
1876  he  had  driven  the  Dunganis  out  of  China, 
and  practically  ended  the  rebelUon.  The  "  Cham- 
pion Father "  did  not  await  the  Chinese  attack, 
but  advanced  with  his  entire  force,  nearly  a  thou- 
sand miles,  to  meet  Tso.  He  was  completely  de- 
feated for  his  pains  in  two  battles.  He  escaped 
to  Korla,  where  he  died  in  May,  1877.  With  his 
demise  his  empire  came  to  an  end.  Tso  was  re- 
warded with  the  viceroyalty  of  the  two  Kiang 
provinces. 


190  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

China  has  from  time  immemorial  been  subject 
to  famines,  and  the  cause  has  usually  been  too 
much  or  too  little  water;  but  until  the  famine  of 
1878,  during  which  some  8,000,000  died,  their 
full  significance  had  never  been  brought  to  the 
notice  of  America  and  Europe.  For  four  years 
no  rain  had  fallen  in  the  Provinces  of  Shansi  and 
Shensi,  and  the  raising  of  the  commonest  necessi- 
ties of  life  was  impossible.  Li  Hung  Chang  was 
deputed  by  the  regents  to  take  charge  of  the  dying 
millions,  and  subscription  papers  were  circulated 
all  over  the  world.  The  foreign  relief  committee 
in  Shanghai  raised  204,560  taels,  a  portion  of 
which  it  is  to  be  hoped  reached  the  masses,  al- 
though peculation  among  the  distributers  was  rife. 

In  1881  the  emperor  gave  Korea  formal  permis- 
sion to  contract  treaties  with  foreign  countries. 
Admiral  Shufeldt,  on  the  part  of  the  United 
States,  had,  however,  already  entered  into  a  treaty 
of  peace,  amity,  and  commerce  with  Korea,  in 
1882 ;  Japan,  in  1876  ;  and  England,  in  1883. 
China  hoped  by  this  concession  to  place  Korea  on 
such  a  basis  that  by  means  of  treaties  she  could 
in  a  measure  enter  the  family  of  nations,  and  be 
freed  from  all  danger  of  Russian  aggression.  The 
United  States  so  far  recognized  Korea  as  to  ac- 
credit Lucius  H.  Foote  as  minister  to  tliat  coun- 


WAR    WITH  FRANCE.  191 

try.  In  1885  the  Koreans  made  an  attack  on  the 
Japanese  legation,  and  drove  them  out  of  the 
country.  Japan  promptly  demanded  an  apology 
and  indemnity;  and  an  agreement  was  entered 
into  between  China  and  Japan  that  neither  should 
send  troops  to  Korea  without  first  informing  the 
other :  a  ridiculous  engagement  that  led  to  seri- 
ous consequences. 

China  had  barely  escaped  a  war  with  Japan 
over  one  of  her  feudatory  states,  when  she  was 
plunged  into  a  war  with  France  over  another. 
For  fully  a  century  France  had  looked  upon 
Annam  as  within  her  "  sphere  of  influence,"  and 
French  missionaries  had  been  working  among  the 
Annamese  with  indifferent  success.  In  1858 
France  seized  Saigon,  and  made  it  her  base  for 
commercial  operations  in  Cochin  China.  It  was 
not  long  before  complications  arose  between  the 
invaders  and  the  suzerain  states,  and  in  1882  the 
French  decided  definitely  to  annex  Tongkin. 
The  capital  town  of  Hanoi  was  captured,  and 
the  important  towns  of  Sontay  and  Bacinh  in- 
vested. Li  Hung  Chang  urged  the  regents  to 
make  peace  with  France,  and  he  was  empowered 
to  confer  with  Captain  Fournier  of  the  French 
navy.  A  treaty  was  entered  into  that  only  lacked 
the  date  as  to  when  it  should  go  into  effect  to  make 


192  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

it  perfect.  As  it  was,  the  French  troops  tried  to 
take  possession  of  Langson,  and  precipitated  an 
engagement  with  the  Chinese,  in  which  the  French 
were  badly  defeated.  This  led  to  the  reopening 
of  hostilities.  No  one  will  ever  know  whether 
the  omission  of  the  necessary  date  in  the  treaty 
was  an  oversight,  or  another  sample  of  Chinese 
diplomacy.  General  Negrier  captured  Langson  on 
February  13,  1885,  and  Admiral  Courbet  unsuc- 
cessfully bombarded  Kelung  on  the  northern 
coast  of  Formosa,  after  which  he  sailed  for  Foo- 
chow,  where  he  utter  destroyed  the  Chinese  fleet. 
Returning  to  Formosa  the  French  admiral  suc- 
ceeded, after  five  attempts,  in  reducing  Kelung, 
and  later  occupied  tlie  Pescadores.  In  Tongking 
the  French  land  forces  were  able  to  make  but  little 
headway  against  the  Black  Flags,  and  the  war 
degenerated  into  a  guerilla  campaign.  By  this 
time  both  sides  were  thoroughly  tired  of  the  war. 
It  had  cost  China  60,000,000  taels,  and  the  loss  of 
her  Foochow  fleet,  and  had  been  a  heavy  drain  on 
the  French  treasury.  A  treaty  was  signed  on 
June  9,  1885,  that  gave  France  the  sovereignty  of 
Tongking. 

The  year  after  this  treaty,  China  lost  another 
feudatory  by  the  occupation  of  upper  Burmah  by 
Great  Britain;  and  on  March  17,  1890,  China's 


RECEPTION   OF  FOREIGNERS.       193 

back  door  was  crowded  open  by  the  establishment 
of  a  trade  route  from  India  into  Thibet. 

In  1884  Kwang  Su  was  married  to  a  daughter 
of  the  dowager  empress's  brother,  and  the  foreign 
ministers  took  advantage  of  the  occasion  to  press 
the  audience  question  with  the  usual  result,  that 
in  1891  they  were  again  graciously  received  by 
the  Son  of  Heaven  in  the  Palace  of  Tributary  Na- 
tions. It  was  for  the  last  time,  however ;  as,  im- 
mediately afterwards,  the  diplomatic  corps  passed 
resolutions  to  forego  the  ceremony  rather  than 
submit  to  the  indignity.  This  was  exactly  the 
show  of  firmness  that  the  Chinese  needed;  and 
in  the  following  year,  when  the  Austrian  min- 
ister came  to  present  his  credentials,  he  was 
received  in  one  of  the  minoi  halls  of  the  pal- 
ace itseK,  as  a  little  later  was  the  British  repre- 
sentative. The  question,  however,  settled  itself 
on  the  conclusion  of  the  Japanese  war,  with  a 
suddenness  that  would  have  been  tragic  had  it  not 
been  laughable.  For  two  hundred  years  Western 
diplomacy  had  exhausted  itself  in  its  endeavors  to 
be  recognized ;  but  when  it  became  a  matter  of 
personal  interest  to  the  Chinese,  the  long  coveted 
privilege  was  granted  without  the  asking.  China 
at  last  condescended  to  recognize  the  equality  of 
all  nations  at  a  time  when  she  was  inferior  even  to 


194  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

her  former  tributary  states.  In  May,  1898,  Prince 
Henry  of  Prussia  was  received  by  the  emperor 
standing,  and  had  his  call  returned ;  and  I  would 
not  be  surprised  to  be  told  by  the  next  distin- 
guished globe  trotter  that  while  "  doing  "  Peking, 
he  had  been  invited  to  drink  tea  with  the  August 
and  only  Son  of  Heaven. 

A  war  between  China  and  Japan  was  inevitable. 
Their  hatred  of  each  other  was  of  no  sudden 
growth,  but  had  been  cultivated  for  centuries.  On 
the  Chinese  side  it  was  an  outspoken  contempt 
for  the  "  dwarfs  "  ;  on  the  Japanese  it  was  a  settled 
determination  to  avenge  a  long  series  of  insult  and 
impositions.  The  Chinese  sent  troops  into  Korea 
in  1894,  without  notifying  Japan  according  to  the 
treaty  of  May,  1895.  The  Japanese  were  pre- 
pared, and  promptly  resented  this  last  insult  by 
sending  five  thousand  men  under  General  Oshima 
to  the  mainland.  The  empress  rather  welcomed 
the  prospect  of  war,  as  a  successful  one  would  add 
luster  to  her  sixtieth  birthday,  which  she  was  pre- 
paring to  celebrate  with  imparalleled  magnificence 
in  the  fall  of  the  year.  The  entire  empire  was 
"  invited  "  to  contribute  generously  to  the  fete  ; 
and  up  to  the  outbreak  of  the  war,  tribute  and 
presents  from  all  the  provinces  were  on  their  way 
to  Peking.     It  was  her  intention   to   make   her 


TFAR   WITH  JAPAN.  195 

birthday  the  most  remarkable  celebration  of  its 
kind  in  the  long^histoiy  of  the  empire.  Li  Hung 
Chang  realized  that  China  was  not  prepared  for  a 
war ;  but  Tsu  Tsi  was  determined  to  chastise  "  the 
insolent  pygmies,"  and  at  the  same  time  become 
the  Semiramis  of    China. 

The  Japanese  quietly  held  their  ground;  and 
on  the  25th  of  July,  one  of  their  cruisers, 
the  "  Nanawa,"  encountered  the  chartered  English 
transport  "  Kowshing,"  carrying  eleven  thousand 
Chinese  troops,  and  safeguarded  by  two  men- 
of-war  approaching  the  Korean  coast.  Here, 
again,  was  an  example  of  a  contemptuous 
breach  of  the  treaty  of  China.  The  captain 
of  the  "Nanawa"  did  not  hesitate;  and  in  less 
than  an  hour  one  of  the  Chinese  men-of-war 
was  a  wreck,  and  the  "  Kowshing  "  had  gone  to 
the  bottom  with  its  human  freight.  On  August 
1,  1894,  war  was  formally  declared;  and  the 
Chinese  had  the  bad  taste  to  refer  in  their  royal 
proclamation  to  the  Japanese  as  "the  Dwarfs." 
Both  sides  dispatched  large  reenforcements  to 
Korea ;  and  the  first  encounter  at  Asam,  in  Korea, 
was  the  first  of  a  series  of  brilliant  victories  that 
placed  Japan  among  the  first-class  powers  of  the 
world.  At  Pingyang,  on  September  15,  the 
Chinese  were  defeated  with  a  loss  of   over  six 


196  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

thousand  men,  and  large  quantities  of  arms  and 
provisions  were  captured.  The  remnants  of  their 
demoralized  army  fled  to  the  north,  plundering 
and  terrorizing  the  very  people  whom  they  were 
supposed  to  protect  from  a  merciless  invader. 
Two.  days  later  the  Japanese  and  Chinese  fleets 
encountered  each  other  at  the  mouth  of  the  Yalu 
River.  Each  fleet  consisted  of  twelve  ships, 
although  the  Chinese  was  supplemented  with  six 
torpedo  boats.  The  Chinese  admiral.  Ting, 
steamed  out  of  the  harbor ;  and  boldly  engaged  the 
enemy.  The  battle  began  about  ten  o'clock  in 
the  morning  and  lasted  for  six  hours.  It  will 
always  be  historical,  as  being  the  first  general 
naval  battle  between  modern  fleets.  Ting  was  a 
brave  man,  and  fought  his  ships  well ;  but  he  was 
outmaneuvered  by  the  swifter  Japanese  cruisers, 
and  at  the  end  of  the  engagement  he  had  lost  five 
of  his  ships,  and  the  balance  were  in  full  flight. 
The  Japanese  were  so  badly  punished  that  they 
were  unable  to  follow  up  their  victory,  and  Ting 
took  the  remnant  of  his  fleet  into  Port  Arthur. 
With  the  Chinese  fleet  placed  on  the  defensive, 
the  Japanese  had  simply  the  disorganized  Chinese 
land  forces  to  deal  with.  Count  Cayama  arrived  at 
Kinchow  (October  24),  thirty-four  miles  south  of 
Port    Arthur,    and    Marshal    Yamagata    hurried 


CAPTURE   OF  PORT  ARTHUR.       197 

northward  with  his  victorious  army,  occupied 
Wiju,  crossed  the  Yalu,  joined  forces  with  General 
Nodzu,  and  on  the  25th  of  October  signally  de- 
feated the  Chinese  at  Hushan.  On  the  5th  and 
6th  of  November,  Kinchow  and  Talienwan  sur- 
rendered to  Oyama,  and  so  opened  the  door  to 
Port  Arthur.  Port  Arthur,  which  was  supposed 
to  be,  and  should  have  been,  impregnable  to  a  land 
attack,  was  carried  by  assault  on  the  2l8t  of  No- 
vember, with  a  loss  to  the  invaders  of  only  four 
hundred  men.  The  news  was  received  all  over 
the  world  with  unbounded  astonishment.  Nature 
had  fortified  the  fort,  and  Li  Hung  Chang  had 
spent  large  sums  in  filling  it  with  the  most  modern 
guns.  Nothing  but  the  most  arrant  cowardice  or 
unpatriotic  treachery  can  explain  its  surrender. 

Oyama  did  not  rest  on  his  laurels,  but  immedi- 
ately marched  north  into  Manchuria,  capturing 
Fuchow  and  Kaipingchow.  The  old  empress 
by  this  time  had  all  the  glory  of  a  foreign  war 
that  she  cared  for ;  and  on  the  advice  of  Li  Hung 
Chang  two  foolish  attempts  were  made  to  turn  the 
war  into  diplomatic  channels  by  dispatching  un- 
accredited peace  embassies  to  Japan.  Quite 
rightly  no  attention  was  paid  to  them  by  the 
Japanese ;  and  the  invaders  advanced  on  Wei-hai- 
wei,  which  was  guai-ded   by  what   was   left   of 


198  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

Ting's  fleet.  The  fortress  surrendered,  and  its 
guns  were  turned  on  the  Chinese  ships,  while  the 
Japanese  fleet  under  Admiral  Ito  blocked  the  har- 
bor entrance.  On  February  7  Ting  realized  that 
his  cause  was  hopeless.  He  signified  his  intention 
to  surrender,  and  then  committed  suicide.  He 
was  the  only  great  character  on  the  Chinese  side 
during  the  shameful  war,  and  had  he  lived  he 
would  have  paid  for  his  bravery  with  his  life  in 
Peking.  Ito  sent  his  remains  in  a  Japanese  man- 
of-war  to  Chefoo  —  awarding  the  just  tribute  of 
an  honorable  enemy  to  a  brave  man. 

The  Dowager  Empress  was  now  thoroughly 
frightened.  As  the  concubine  of  Hienfung,  she 
had  accompanied  him  in  exile  to  Jehol  in  1860, 
and  she  had  no  desire  to  repeat  the  journey  after 
her  thirty  years  of  supreme  power.  She  ordered 
her  favorite  Li  Hung  Chang  to  proceed  to  Japan 
with  full  plenipotentiary  powers,  and  to  conclude 
a  treaty  at  any  cost.  Li  told  Colonel  Charles 
Denby,  the  American  minister,  that  he  had  a  pre- 
sentiment that  he  would  never  return  alive ;  and 
his  presentiment  was  so  far  verified  by  an  attempt 
on  his  life  by  a  crazy  Japanese.  He  was  shot  in 
the  face,  and  will  carry  the  ugly  scar  to  his  grave. 
On  October  17  a  treaty  of  peace  was  signed  by 
the    contracting    powers,    whereby    the    Liatung 


TREATT  WITH  JAPAN.  199 

Peninsula,  including  Port  Arthur,  Formosa,  and 
the  Pescadores,  was  ceded  to  Japan,  and  a  war 
indemnity  of  two  hundred  million  taels  was 
awarded.  Although  there  was  a  strong  party  in 
Peking  that  protested  against  the  ratification  of 
the  humiliating  terms,  the  emperor  signed  it  on 
May  8,  and  gave  as  an  excuse  his  filial  love  and 
tender  soUcitude  for  the  Dowager  Empress,  "  the 
venerable  lady  who,  if  hostilities  were  renewed, 
and  Peking  threatened  by  the  Japanese,  would 
have  to  seek  refuge  in  flight,  and  have  been  ex- 
posed once  more  to  the  hardships  of  a  long  and 
arduous  journey." 

Russia,  Germany,  and  France,  for  purely  selfish 
motives,  remonstrated  so  strongly  against  the 
cession  of  Liatung,  that  the  Japanese  foolishly 
withdrew,  accepting  in  lieu  a  further  indemnity 
of  thirty  million  taels.  Japan  had  to  occupy 
Formosa  by  force  of  arms,  and  has  virtually  had 
to  hold  it  ever  since  by  the  same  means ;  but  the 
war  was  closed,  and  the  nations  involved  were  left 
to  accommodate  themselves  to  their  new  condi- 
tions. 

It  soon  became  apparent  why  China's  three 
European  friends  did  not  want  Japan  to  have  a 
foothold  on  the  continent.  Russia  showed  her 
hand  first  by  seizing  Port  Arthur,  although  Count 


200  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

Mouravieff  had  positively  assured  the  British 
government  that  the  presence  of  Russian  war- 
ships in  Port  Arthur  in  December,  1897,  was  due 
solely  to  the  convenience  of  wintering  there.  It 
is  now  an  open  secret  that  the  Russian  admiral 
had  orders  to  retire  from  Port  Arthur,  should  Sir 
Claude  Macdonald,  the  British  minister,  decline  to 
believe  the  fairy  tale,  and  order  a  British  fleet  to 
the  same  convenient  winter  resort.  Russia,  in 
addition,  demanded  the  right  to  build  the  Siberian 
railway  through  Manchuria  to  Vladivostock,  with 
a  branch  line  to  Kirin  Mukden  and  Port  Arthur. 
France  required,  as  her  quid  pro  quo,  the  con- 
struction of  a  railway  to  meet  the  French  railway 
on  the  frontier,  and  so  join  Tongking  with  Nanning 
on  the  West  River,  thereby  tapping  the  provinces 
of  Yunnan  and  Szechuen.  She  also  demanded 
the  lease  of  Kwangchow  on  the  Lienchow  Penin- 
sula, opposite  the  Island  of  Hainan.  Germany 
first  asked  certain  mining  and  financial  privileges ; 
and  later,  as  a  lesson  to  China  that  the  lives  of  her 
missionaries  must  be  respected,  Admiral  Von 
Diedrichs  steamed  into  Kiaochow  Bay,  on  the 
Shangtung  coast,  and  forcibly  "  leased  "  the  har- 
bor, village,  and  neighboring  coast.  Russia  ob- 
tained Port  Arthur  and  Talienwan,  on  the  same 
liberal  terms ;  and  England,  horror-stricken  at  the 


LEASES  AND   LAND   GRABS.  201 

reckless  way  in  which  her  rivals  hustled  the 
dread  Son  of  Heaven,  made  a  grab  for  Wei-hai-wei 
and  the  lease  of  the  Kowloon  Peninsula  opposite 
Hong  Kong. 

The  partition  of  China  stopped  with  these 
"  leases,"  although  Italy  occupied,  and  then  asked 
for,  Samun  Bay.  After  she  had  surveyed  the 
harbor,  Italy  found  that  she  had  drawn  a  blank ; 
the  Italian  minister  at  Peking  was  relieved,  and 
the  successor  of  the  great  Roman  empire  smothered 
her  desire  for  Chinese  colonies. 

The  outbreak  of  the  Spanish- American  war  in 
1898  drew  the  attention  of  the  world  from  China, 
and  gave  her  for  a  short  time  a  "  lease  "  of  what 
she  needed  very  much  —  life.  The  coming  of  the 
Americans  to  the  Philippines  introduced  a  new 
element  into  the  Chinese  question  that  was  puz- 
zUng,  and  the  powers  desisted  for  a  time  until  they 
had  taken  our  measure.  The  trip  of  Lord  Charles 
Beresford  through  China  in  1899,  and  his  subse- 
quent visit  to  Washington,  aroused  the  United 
States  to  the  necessity  of  protecting  our  trade 
interest  in  China  by  insisting  on  an  "  open  door." 

On  September  6, 1899,  secretary  John  Hay  com- 
municated with  the  United  States  representatives 
in  Great  Britain,  France,  Russia,  Italy,  and  Japan, 
notifying  them  of  the  desire  of  the  United  States 


202  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

relative  to  the  "  open  door  "  policy.  Ambassador 
Choate's  note  to  the  British  government  succinctly 
expressed  the  attitude  of  America. 

He  said:  "The  president  understands  that  it  is 
the  settled  policy  and  purpose  of  Great  Britain  not 
to  use  any  privilege  received  from  China  to  exclude 
any  commercial  rivals.  The  United  States  gov- 
ernment cannot  conceal  their  apprehensions  of  the 
danger  of  complication  arising  between  the  treaty 
powers  which  may  imperil  the  rights  assured  to  the 
United  States  by  treaty.  The  United  States  hope 
to  retain  China  as  an  open  market  for  the  world's 
commerce,  to  remove  dangerous  sources  of  inter- 
national irritation,  and  thereby  hasten  united 
action  by  the  powers  at  Peking  to  promote  ad- 
ministrative reforms  so  greatly  needed  for  strength- 
ening the  imperial  government,  and  maintaining 
the  integrity  of  China,  in  which  the  United  States 
believe  the  whole  western  world  is  alike  concerned. 
The  United  States  believe  that  such  a  result  would 
be  greatly  aided  and  advanced  by  declarations  on 
the  part  of  the  powers  claiming  spheres  in  China, 
respecting  their  intentions  with  regard  to  the 
treatment  of  foreign  trade  and  commerce  in  those 
spheres ;  and  the  United  States  consider  that  the 
present  is  a  very  favorable  moment  for  informing 
Great  Britain  of  the  desire  of  the  United  States 


THE  ''OPEN  DOORr  203 

that  Great  Britain  should  make  a  declaration  on 
her  own  part,  and  lend  her  powerful  support  in  the 
effort  to  obtain  from  each  power  having  spheres  a 
declaration  to  the  effect  that  it  will  in  no  wise  in- 
terfere with  any  treaty  port  or  any  vested  interest 
within  any  so-called  sphere  of  interest  or  leased 
territory  that  it  may  have  in  China;  that  the 
Chinese  treaty  tariff  of  the  time  being  shall  apply 
to  all  merchandise  landed  at  or  shipped  to  all 
such  ports  as  are  within  such  sphere,  unless 
they  be  free  ports,  no  matter  to  what  nationality 
they  may  belong,  and  that  duties  so  leviable  shall 
be  collected  by  the  Chinese  government ;  that  the 
power  approached  will  levy  no  higher  harbor  dues 
on  vessels  of  another  nationality  frequenting  any 
port  in  such  sphere  than  shall  be  levied  on  vessels 
of  its  own  nationality,  nor  any  higher  railroad 
charges  over  lines  built,  controlled,  or  operated  in 
its  sphere  on  merchandise  belonging  to  citizens  or 
subjects  of  other  nationalities  than  are  levied  on 
similar  merchandise  belonging  to  its  own  citizens." 
All  the  nations  replied  favorably ;  and  on  March 
20,  1900,  Colonel  Hay  was  able  to  notify  the 
United  States  representatives  abroad  that  the 
powers  addressed  had  accepted,  and  that  he  would 
consider  their  consent  final  and  definite.  The 
result   of  the  negotiations   may  be  considered  a 


204  CHINA'S   OPEN  BOOR. 

diplomatic  triumph  for  America ;  as  Great  Britain, 
Russia,  Germany,  and  France  have  been  at  a  vast 
expense  of  blood  and  treasure  in  opening  China's 
door,  and  the  expense  of  keeping  it  open  is  no 
small  figure.  The  policing  of  the  inland  rivers, 
the  maintaining  of  consuls  wherever  there  is  hope 
of  trade,  the  exploring  of  possible  trade  routes,  and 
the  support  of  cruisers  to  guarantee  hfe  and 
property  along  the  coast,  represent  an  outlay  in 
which  the  United  States  does  not  share,  but  by 
this  agreement  hopes  to  benefit. 

Before  the  Spanish-American  war  the  powers 
would  have  laughed  at  such  a  one-sided  proposi* 
tion ;  but  at  this  time,  when  no  one  knows  what  a 
day  may  bring  forth,  the  powers  have  a  right  to 
feel  that  the  victory  is  theirs  in  so  much  as  they 
have  made  the  United  States  a  party  to  the  future, 
and  at  the  same  time  forced  her  to  acknowledge 
and  overlook  the  crimes  of  the  past.  An  upris- 
ing, a  rebellion,  a  palace  intrigue,  that  endangers 
trade  or  hfe,  means  that  the  United  States  must 
send  troops  up  the  Peiho  and  constitute  itself  one 
of  the  policemen  of  China.  With  a  base  at  Manila 
we  are  in  a  position  to  fulfill  our  part  of  the  con- 
tract, but  I  fear  that  time  may  convince  us  that 
we  have  married  in  haste  to  repent  at  leisure. 
The  "Boxer  "  rebellion,  so-called,  is  but  a  foretaste. 


THE  REIGN  OF  KfVJNG  SU.  205 


X. 

THE  REIGN  OF  KWANG  SU. 

[A.  D.  1898  TO  A.  D.  1900.] 

THE  result  of  the  Japanese  war  was  a  bitter 
blow  to  the  pride  of  the  old  empress  and 
her  favorite,  Li  Hung  Chang.  For  the 
time  it  completely  dethroned  the  "  petticoat  gov- 
ernment," and  gave  Kwang  Su  a  chance  to  put 
into  practice  some  of  the  lessons  he  had  learned 
from  his  unfortunate  father  and  the  Marquis 
Tseng.  He  surrounded  himself  with  men  of  lib- 
eral education  and  modem  ideas,  chief  among 
whom  was  a  Cantonese,  Kang-Yu-Wei,  who  is 
known  for  his  learning,  both  in  western  literature 
and  in  the  classics,  as  the  "  Modern  Sage."  He 
was  appointed  Secretary  of  the  Tsung-li-Yamen. 

The  court  squabbles  between  the  young  em- 
peror and  the  old  empress  came  to  a  climax 
immediately  after  the  seizure  of  Kiaochow ;  and 
on  the  February  following  all  the  world  knew  that 
Kwang  Su  was  the  real  ruler  of  China,  and  that 


206  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

the  long-looked-for  Europeanizing  of  the  coun- 
try was  to  commence.  The  vermillion  pencil  did 
not  hesitate.  Edict  after  edict  appeared  in  its 
sacred  color  which  threatened  to  do  for  China 
what  had  already  been  accomplished  in  Japan. 
No  useless  custom  or  absurd  ceremony,  no  matter 
how  hallowed  by  age,  escaped  its  editing ;  and 
while  the  literati  held  up  their  hands  in  horror,  all 
the  world  laughed. 

Kwang  Su  deserves  a  place  in  history  as  the 
prize  iconoclast.  He  sent  a  cold  shiver  down  the 
spine  of  the  literati  by  declaring  that  a  man's  fit- 
ness for  office  should  not  depend  upon  his  ability 
to  write  a  poem,  or  upon  the  elegance  of  his  pen- 
manship. He  suggested  that  there  were  other 
qualifications  for  office  that  would  be  taken  into 
consideration  other  than  a  parrot-like  acquaintance 
with  the  classics.  He  ordered  the  establishment 
of  a  university  for  the  study  of  western  science  in 
Peking,  and  a  board  of  translation  for  the  publica- 
tion of  western  books  in  the  Chinese  language.  A 
thorough  reorganization  of  the  army  was  proposed ; 
and  young  Manchus  were  urged  to  travel  abroad, 
and  learn  foreign  manners  and  customs.  Liberal 
newspapers  were  started,  and  by  an  edict  over  six 
thousand  officials  who  were  holding  sinecures  at 
Peking  were  turned  out  of   office.     During  Sep- 


THE   COUP  UETAT.  207 

tember,  1898,  every  day  brought  forth  a  new  and 
startling  edict  regarding  railways,  mines,  news- 
papers, manufactories  ;  and  strangely  enough,  the 
young  emperor  over-reached  himself  in  his  enthu- 
siasm, by  proposing  to  issue  an  edict  forbidding 
the  pigtail,  and  substituting  European  for  native 
dress.  This  was  too  much.  The  literati  argued 
that  at  the  rate  at  which  the  emperor  was  going, 
it  might  be  expected  that  he  would  do  away  with 
chop-sticks,  and  inaugurate  daily  baths.  In  truth 
the  royal  informer  had  gone  too  fast.  In  a  few 
months  he  had  managed  to  array  against  himself 
the  corrupt  bureaucracy,  the  peculating  army, 
the  hide-bound  literati,  and  lastly,  he  had  fright- 
ened the  common  people.  Leading  and  directing 
all  these  antagonistic  elements  was  the  crafty  old 
empress  dowager  and  her  equally  crafty  hench- 
man, Li  Hung  Chang. 

A  catastrophe  was  inevitable ;  and  on  the  21st 
of  September,  1898,  the  world  was  given  to 
understand  that  a  cowp  cfStat  had  taken  place  in 
Peking,  and  that  the  empress  dowager  had  once 
more  resumed  the  control  of  the  government. 
Shortly  afterwards,  as  might  have  been  expected, 
it  was  noted  in  the  Peking  Gazette  that  the  em- 
peror was  seriously  ill,  and  for  a  time  it  was 
thought  he  was  dead.     The  foreign  legations  ten- 


208  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

dered  the  services  of  their  physicians ;  and  the 
British  minister  was  instructed  to  inform,  "  She 
who  must  be  obeyed,"  that  the  premature  death 
of  the  emperor  would  create  a  bad  impression  in 
Europe  and  America,  and  might  lead  to  complica- 
tions.    Kwang  Su  recovered  immediately. 

Experience  had  taught  Tsu  Tsi  nothing,  and 
she  came  back  into  power  worse  than  when  she 
went  out.  Adversity  had  hardened  her,  and  she 
was  burning  for  revenge.  At  once  she  went  to 
the  extreme  in  her  frantic  efforts  to  stamp  out  the 
seeds  of  reform,  and  bring  to  death  the  reformers. 
Whenever  she  had  them  in  her  power  she  exe- 
cuted them  without  mercy;  and  in  June,  1900, 
her  minister  in  Washington,  who  had  been  given  a 
degree  of  LL.D.  by  one  of  our  foolish  colleges,  re- 
reported  against  certain  Chinese  merchants  in  the 
United  States,  whose  only  crimes  were  their  sign- 
ing of  a  petition  humbly  praying  that  their  empe- 
ror die  not  of  "  a  broken  heart."  The  wives  and 
families  in  China  of  these  men  were  imprisoned 
and  robbed  because  of  this  show  of  patriotism  on 
the  part  of  their  husbands  in  Chicago  and  San 
Francisco.  If  the  "  Boxer  "  rebellion,  which  soon 
after  broke  out  and  laid  waste  the  country  be_ 
tween  Tientsin  and  Peking,  were  to  be  successful, 
it  would  be  no  more  than  the  old  empress  should 


IVILES   OF   THE  DOWAGER.  209 

expect  if  she  would  ever  stop  to  consider  herself 
as  others  see  her.  Kang  Wu  Wei  escaped  from 
Peking,  and  was  conveyed  to  Hong  Kong  in  a 
British  man-of-war.  Shortly  afterwards  he  pro- 
ceeded to  Singapore,  where  he  ran  less  danger 
of   being  kidnapped  into  Chinese  territory. 

It  took  but  a  few  days  to  undo  all  that  Kwang 
Su  had  attempted ;  and  the  implacable  old  woman 
and  her  faithful  man  "  Friday,"  were  speedily  try- 
ing to  make  themselves  believe  that  they  were 
living  in  the  days  of  the  Empress  Wu.  In  order 
to  close  the  eyes  of  the  foreign  legation  at  Peking, 
or,  what  was  more  important,  their  mouths,  Tsu 
Tsi  had  the  supreme  assurance  to  "  graciously " 
consent  to  receive  the  wives  of  the  ministers  in 
audience.  It  is  regrettable  to  record  that  the 
women  invited  accepted  with  alacrity,  and  that  a 
big  social  fight  was  made  to  obtain  invitations  for 
the  wives  of  the  secretaries  of  the  legations  as 
well.  The  old  empress,  however,  would  not  in- 
clude them,  as  her  game  was  to  receive  through 
tiie  wives  of  the  foreign  ministers  a  recognition 
as  the  real  ruler  of  China.  To  have  made  it  a 
social  event  would  have  destroyed  the  object 
aimed  at.  She  who  was  a  usurper,  in  the  very 
face  of  the  fact  that  Kwang  Su's  wife  was  the 
actual  empress  of  China,  must  have  laughed  in  her 


210  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR, 

sleeve,  and  regretted  that  it  was  not  as  easy  to 
defeat  the  hated  barbarians  in  war  as  it  was  in 
diplomacy. 

Yet  with  all  her  assurances  and  smiles,  the 
dowager  had  never  forgiven  Kwang  Su  for  the 
shock  his  twentieth  century  ideas  had  given  her. 
She  was  biding  her  time,  and  carefully  preparing 
for  her  palace  coup  d'etat.  Early  in  January, 
1900,  Li  Hung  Chang  was  dispatched  to  Canton 
as  viceroy  of  the  two  Kwangs  —  because  he  was 
too  famiharly  known  to  the  Western  countries 
to  look  well  as  a  party  to  an  old-fashioned  court 
murder.  On  January  24,  1900,  the  news  was 
flashed  from  Peking  that  Kwang  Su  had  resigned 
his  crown,  and  that  Put  Sing,  the  infant  son  of 
Prince  Tuan,  had  been  recognized  in  his  place. 
A  storm  of  disapproval  shook  the  empire.  A  few 
days  later  the  report  was  sent  out  that  Kwang  Su 
had  died.  In  this  the  old  dowager  had  overreached 
herself.  If  she  had  simply  started  the  report  in 
order  to  feel  the  public  pulse,  and  ascertain  how  her 
subjects  would  accept  the  death  of  the  emperor, 
the  result  must  have  startled  her  more  than  the 
Japanese  war.  Even  the  inert  mass  of  the  Chinese 
empire  was  for  the  moment  galvanized  into  what 
looked  like  opposition.  The  foreign  ministers,  or 
at  least  those  representing  the  cause  of  order  — 


PERSECUTION  OF  FOREIGNERS.    211 

America  (Mr.  Edwin  H.  Conger),  Great  Britain, 
and  Germany,  whose  sei*vices  are  sometimes  useful 
when  France  or  Russia  asks  a  little  too  much, 
protested;  and  petitions,  very  humbly  worded 
indeed,  but  not  altogether  despised,  came  rumbling 
in  from  the  provinces,  and  from  the  Chinese  in 
America  and  Australia.  Li  Hung  Chang,  with 
his  characteristic  instinct  for  evasion,  would  not 
declare  himself  one  way  or  the  other ;  and  for  the 
instant  affairs  looked  very  black.  Nominally  the 
young  emperor  still  sat  on  the  dishonored  throne 
of  his  ancestors ;  but  everything  was  being  done 
to  lower  his  prestige,  and  to  treat  him  as  a  mere 
intruder  and  usurper, — a  course  which  the  empress 
dowager  failed  to  perceive  would  not  relieve  her 
from  the  pressure  of  Western  civihzation,  but 
was  actually  hastening  the  dissolution  of  the  em- 
pire. 

Outrages  on  subjects  of  powerful  states,  though 
at  the  time  they  may  seem  a  glorious  assertion  of 
independence,  and  may  for  a  while  go  unpunished, 
have  in  the  end  proved  bad  policy.  Yet  China  has 
never  learned  by  experience.  Outrages  of  this 
sort  led  to  the  first  war  of  1842  and  the  opening 
of  the  five  ports.  A  renewal  of  those  outrages 
brought  about  the  second  and  third  wars,  and  the 
opening   of    the    northern    and   Yangtsze    ports. 


212  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

The  massacres  in  Szechuen  and  Fuhkin  called  for 
still  further  demands,  and  the  attempts  to  oust 
the  Japanese  from  Korea  only  ended  in  the  loss  of 
Formosa  and  Shing  Kmg.  Outrages  in  Shantung 
brought  the  Germans ;  and  this  led  to  the  military 
occupation  by  Russia  of  Manchuria  and  Liaotung, 
the  cession  of  Weihaiwei  and  Kowloon  to  England, 
and,  as  a  counterpoise,  of  Kwangchow  to  France. 
All  these  events  happened  within  the  lifetime 
of  the  empress  dowager,  and  should  have  been 
enough  to  have  taught  her  sufficient  wisdom  to 
dissuade  her  from  continuing  so  losing  a  game. 
There  seems,  however,  to  attend  the  old  age  of 
nations,  as  of  individuals,  a  period  of  dotage, 
when  old  habits  become  tyrants,  and  reason  grows 
too  feeble  to  arrest  the  inevitable  decay.  When 
China  was  young  and  vigorous  her  envoys  and 
ships  were  to  be  found  all  over  Asia.  She  carried 
her  trade  even  as  far  as  Zanzibar  and  the  east 
coast  of  Africa,  and  met  on  equal  terms  the  Arab 
merchant,  then  the  great  trader  of  the  world. 
She  had  then  no  pro-  nor  anti-foreign  party,  and 
the  wayfarer  from  abroad  was  hospitably  received 
in  her  ports.  While  such  is  the  aspect  of  China 
towards  foreign  nations,  at  home  the  present 
pretense  of  government  is  insidiously  sapping  the 
foundations  of  law  and  order.     It  has  been  un- 


THE  MOB  IN  CHINA.  213 

ceasingly  fanning  the  flame  of  dissatisfaction. 
The  mob  in  China,  like  that  in  every  other  coun- 
try, cares  for  nothing  but  plunder ;  and  it  is  easy 
to  direct  its  fury  against  the  foreigner,  whether  it 
be  the  Jew  in  Russia  or  the  missionary  in  China. 

In  the  metropolitan  province  itself  men  like 
GeneraHssimo  Junglu  and  Kangyi  have  been  at 
work  for  years  fomenting  trouble,  but  it  is  in 
Shantung  and  Kwangtung  that  the  effects  of  such 
teachings  are  most  seriously  felt.  The  chiefs  of 
the  present  "  Boxer "  uprising  are  nothing  more 
than  disciples  of  the  empress's  favorites.  They 
forget,  however,  that  with  the  first  taste  for  blood 
the  mob  changes  from  the  willing  tool  into  a  wild, 
unthinking  beast.  A  ruler  like  Li  Hung  Chang 
might  be  expected  to  have  learned  the  first  prin- 
ciples of  settled  government;  but  affairs  have 
proceeded  so  far  that  Kwangtung  broke  in  a  blaze 
of  rebellion,  and  all  authority  was  openly  defied. 
Piracy  was  everywhere ;  and  even  the  presence  of 
English  river  gunboats  on  the  West  River,  above 
Canton,  had  little  if  any  effect.  It  needed 
measures  stronger  than  the  old  viceroy  cared  to 
incur  the  expense  of  to  restore  his  province 
to  anything  like  order.  Twelve  years  ago  the 
province  of  Shantung  was  probably  the  most 
contented  of  the  eighteen.     To-day,  owing  to  the 


214  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

example  set  in  Peking,  it  is  a  hotbed  of  factions, 
and  the  Imperial  Government  is  openly  defied. 
As  a  result,  one  foreigner  (Rev.  Mr.  Brooks)  has 
been  barbarously  murdered ;  and  every  mail  brings 
reports  of  the  killing  or  persecuting  of  mission- 
aries,  prospectors,  and  railway  surveyors. 

Unfortunately  China,  in  her  long  political  career, 
has  never  evolved  any  self-acting  check  on  mis- 
rule ;  and  the  sole  remedy  has  ever  been  rebellion 
or  conquest.  A  nation  has  the  government  it  best 
deserves.  If  China  were  worthy  of  a  good  gov- 
ernment it  would  have  it.  Such  was  the  deliber- 
ate statement  of  General  Gordon  on  returning 
from  his  last  visit  to  Peking.  The  position  of 
affairs  in  Peking  has  not  altered  for  the  better 
since  then,  and  to-day  is  not  very  unlike  what 
it  was  in  the  last  days  of  the  Mings,  when 
the  progress  of  the  Manchu  arms  was  fostered 
more  by  treachery  than  by  prowess.  This  state- 
ment practically  brings  Chinese  history  up  to 
date  of  the  "  Boxer "  uprising.  Beyond  that, 
in  spite  of  all  the  half -known  but  dramatic  hap- 
penings, is  little  more  than  prophecy ;  and  while  it 
is  perfectly  safe  to  predict  the  future  of  China  by 
her  past,  there  is  no  value  in  such  predictions,  and 
very  little  of  interest.  Half  the  books  that  are 
being  written  on  China  to-day  are  made  up  of  the 


THE  "SICK  MAN  OF  ASIA."  215 

prophetic  visions  of  some  distinguished  traveler, 
who  has  lived  a  few  months  or  a  year  in  her 
open  treaty  ports.  As  the  "  sick  man  of  Asia," 
China  has  been  blessed  with  a  host  of  doctors, 
and  one  can  safely  predict  that  their  prescriptions 
will   certainly  either  kill  or  cure. 


216  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 


XL 

THE   COMMERCIAL    OUTLOOK. 

EVERY  writer  on  Chinese  conditions  de- 
votes at  least  one  chapter  to  the  commer- 
cial outlook  as  he  sees  it,  or  to  pointing 
out  the  openings  for  American  goods  in  the  Ori- 
ental market.  For  years  our  efficient  consuls  along 
the  Yellow  Sea  have  been  filling  the  "  Consular 
Reports "  with  the  result  of  their  careful  study 
and  investigations  of  the  subject.  Dr.  Morrison, 
the  famous  commissioner  of  the  London  "  Times  " 
at  Peking,  has  gone  over  the  question  again  and 
again,  and  returned  officials  have  delivered  hun- 
dreds of  lectures  before  chambers  of  commerce 
and  boards  of  trade  in  America.  During  the  past 
three  years,  I  have  written  enough  on  this  subject 
to  fill  many  chapters,  and  all  of  us  have  said  or 
written  more  or  less  the  same  thing. 

Trade  in  China  is  not  to  be  picked  up  like  gold 
nuggets  in  the  Klondike.     The  Chinese  wiU  need 


TRADE  IN  CHINA.  217 

to  be  educated  to  the  use  of  American  prints  and 
labor-saving  machinery,  just  as  their  taste  was 
cultivated  for  Indian  opium,  before  we  can  sell 
them  the  products  of  our  looms  and  rolling-mills. 
The  American  house  that  sends  an  agent  out  here 
with  a  box  of  samples,  and  expects  to  work  up  a 
business  that  will  demand  the  services  of  a  fleet  of 
steamships,  on  the  mere  investment  of  a  ticket 
from  San  Francisco  to  Hong  Kong,  will  be  sadly- 
discouraged  with  the  results.  In  this  story  of  the 
history  of  China,  I  hope  I  have  impressed  the 
reader  with  at  least  one  Chinese  characteristic,  — 
conservativeness.  It  is  all  very  well  to  deal  in 
big  round  figures,  and  to  make  glittering  promises 
as  to  future  trade  possibilities;  but  judging  the 
future  by  the  past,  it  will  be  some  years  before  we 
can  persuade  the  Chinaman  to  discard  the  chop- 
sticks for  the  knife  and  fork,  or  his  cheap,  comfort- 
able dress  for  New  England  shoddy.  In  three 
hundred  years  of  intercourse  with  Europe  and 
America,  we  have  been  able  to  introduce  three 
articles,  —  opium,  kerosene,  and  flour,  —  although 
there  is  at  present  a  very  respectable  trade  done 
in  steel  and  prints. 

There  is  no  possible  way  of  carrying  the  Chi- 
nese market  by  storm.  It  must  be  studied,  nursed, 
and  coaxed.     The  rich  Chinese  appreciate  Pari- 


218  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

sian  novelties  and  jewelry,  and  are  large  buyers 
of  music-boxes,  mechanical  toys,  phonographs, 
fancy  watches,  ornamental  clocks,  etc. ;  but  they 
have  an  utter  contempt  for  American  beds  or 
steam-drills.  In  order  to  sell  carriages,  the  Chi- 
nese must  first  be  taught  the  advantages  of  good 
roads.  It  is  not  because  of  a  lack  of  example 
that  they  do  not  build  them ;  but  they  have  been 
able  to  get  along  very  well  for  three  thousand 
years  without  them,  and  unless  they  are  forced  to 
construct  them,  they  will  probably  continue  in  the 
good  old  way.  The  splendid  roads  that  the  Eng- 
lish are  building  in  the  new  Kowloon  territory 
run  flush  up  to  the  Chinese  quarter,  but  not  an 
inch  farther. 

The  commercial  conversion  of  China  will  be 
much  easier  to  accomplish  than  its  religious  con- 
version ;  but  it  cannot  be  brought  about  by  a  flood 
of  circulars  in  the  Enghsh  language,  or  by  flowery 
editorials  in  the  American  newspapers.  So  far, 
the  Americans  have  not  taken  hold  of  the  trade 
problem  in  a  sensible,  determined  manner ;  and  I 
do  not  believe  that  we  ever  will,  until  the  time 
arrives  when  we  must  have  a  foreign  market  for 
our  surplus  productions.  To-day  prices  are  so 
high  in  America,  both  for  manufactured  articles 
and  for  labor,  that  there  is  little  or  no  incentive 


FOREIGN  MISCONCEPTIONS.  219 

to  compete   for  the   Chinese  market  against  the 
English  and  Germans. 

Our  chambers  of  commerce  urge  the  building  of 
gigantic  trunk-hnes  from  one  end  of  China  to  the 
other,  as  though  it  were  a  simple  proposition 
that  required  only  money ;  and  they  naturally 
urge  that  China  will,  of  course,  be  delighted  to 
have  any  country  or  syndicate  expend  $100,000,000 
for  their  benefit.  They  forget,  however,  that  every 
concession  to  build  a  railroad,  to  navigate  a  ship 
in  the  inland  waters,  or  to  even  buy  Chinese  pro- 
ducts, has  been  obtained  at  the  muzzle  of  the 
gun.  The  history  of  the  little  railroad  from 
Wusung  to  Shanghai,  a  distance  of  twelve  miles, 
is  an  object  lesson  in  Chinese  appreciation  of 
Western  efforts  to  introduce  Western  methods. 
The  completion  of  the  enterprise  in  1875  was 
heralded  all  over  Europe  as  the  entering  wedge 
into  the  Chinese  markets.  During  its  building 
the  Chinese  officials  did  not  object,  as  they  did 
not  realize  what  was  taking  place  ;  but  as  soon  as 
the  train  began  to  run,  then  they  understood  what 
the  foreigners  meant  by  an  "  entering  wedge."  A 
Chinaman  was  found  who,  for  a  small  sum  to  his 
family,  was  willing  to  throw  himself  under  the 
wheels  of  the  cars.  The  Literati  immediately  de- 
manded a  life  for  a  life;  the  minds  of  the  vil- 


220  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

lagers  were  filled  with  the  absurd  tale  that  the 
noise  of  the  engine  disturbed  the  "  Fungsui,"  or 
spirits  of  the  air ;  and,  crazed  with  fear,  they  cre- 
ated such  a  series  of  disturbances  that  the  only 
way  out  was  to  sell  the  railroad  to  the  Chinese 
government,  who  immediately  tore  up  the  rails, 
and  obliterated  the  roadbed. 

There  have  been  two  short  lines  built  in  China 
since  ;  but  the  only  successful  railroad  building  is 
done  by  the  Russians,  and  they  are  backed  by  the 
entire  force  of  the  Russian  army  and  navy.  Con- 
fucius has  warned  his  countrymen  against  new 
devices  from  abroad,  and  the  people  will  have  to 
be  educated  away  from  Confucianism  before  they 
will  of  their  own  notion  take  kindly  to  railroads 
in  China.  The  English  made  the  usual  mistake 
in  submitting  to  the  prejudices  of  the  Chinese. 
Had  Sir  Thomas  Wade  insisted  on  the  integrity  of 
the  little  Wusung  line,  and  a  gunboat  stationed 
off  Shanghai,  Confucius's  maxim  would  have  been 
cast  into  limbo,  and  railroads  would  to-day  spider- 
web  China  from  end  to  end. 

While  we  have  been  idly  dreaming  of  railroad 
building  and  scrambling  for  mining  concessions  in 
the  unopened  empire,  the  Germans  have  come 
into  the  field,  gone  to  work  intelligently,  and 
created  a  market  for  themselves.     It  is  a  peculiar 


ADVERTISING   AND   SAMPLES.       221 

market,  and  not  one  that  they  themselves  prob- 
ably expected  to  find ;  but  it  was  the  outgrowth 
of  the  wants  of  the  people.  For  example,  they 
saw  that  they  could  soon  create  a  demand  for 
cheap  lamps.  The  Chinese  were  quick  to  recog- 
nize the  benefits  of  American  kerosene ;  and  the 
Standard  Oil  Company  might  have  doubled  their 
export  if  they  had  years  ago  given  away  one 
hundred  thousand  cheap  tin  lamps  like  those  the 
Germans  are  now  selling  for  from  fifty  cents  to 
one  dollar  and  a  half  (Mexicans). 

The  advertising  of  Chinese  goods  by  the  Chinese 
is,  whenever  possible,  done  by  free  distribution  of 
samples.  A  drug-store  opens  in  Canton,  and  starts 
out  to  sell  the  same  old  panacea  under  a  new  name. 
The  firet  year  they  may  spend  ten  thousand  dollars 
(Mexicans)  in  the  distribution  of  samples.  In  fact, 
they  really  invest  all  their  capital  in  this  kind  of 
advertising.  Their  stock  is  almost  worth  nothing, 
but  I  know  of  drug-firms  in  Canton  that  could 
sell  their  sign-boards  (trade-marks)  for  one  hun- 
dred thousand  taels  at  any  time,  who  commenced 
in  this  way  a  few  years  ago.  The  Chinese  never 
buy  without  first  testing;  and  if  the  article  is 
satisfactory,  it  requires  an  earthquake  to  turn 
them  to  a  rival  article ;  not  even  a  big  saving  in 
price   will  do  it.     A   number   of  years   ago  the 


222  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

"  eagle  brand  "  of  American  milk  became  popular 
among  the  Chinese  of  Canton  and  Hong  Kong. 
To-day  it  is  manufactured  in  Canton  by  the  thou- 
sands —  the  milk,  label,  trade-mark,  all,  being  coun- 
terfeited. The  milk  is  diluted  and  poor ;  but  the 
Chinese  keep  on  buying,  because  of  the  "  eagle  " 
on  the  label. 

The  Germans  are  supplying  the  Chinese  with 
lamps,  cheap  tools,  buttons,  glass,  jewelry,  thread, 
queuestrings,  watches,  powder,  and  guns.  A  lead- 
ing firm  in  Hong  Kong  offered  to  place  an  order 
for  fifty  thousand  dollars'  worth  of  powder  with 
any  American  firm  that  would  sell  as  good  and 
cheap  a  gunpowder  as  the  Germans.  I  took  sam- 
ples, and  sent  them  on  to  California,  and  obtained 
samples  and  prices  in  return.  The  quality  of  the 
American  powder  was  all  right,  but  the  price 
was  twenty  per  cent  too  high.  The  manufacturer 
wanted  protection  prices  in  a  free  port.  We  for- 
get in  America  that,  if  we  wish  to  sell  in  these 
markets,  we  have  got  to  compete  with  free-trade 
countries  and  with  free-trade  prices.  For  which 
reason,  I  repeat,  we  will  not  do  much  more  than 
talk,  until  we  get  to  the  point  of  needing  a  foreign 
market  to  absorb  our  surplus.  As  yet  the  Ameri- 
can merchants  are  not  m  earnest ;  and  the  talk  of 
our  doing  in  the  next  five  years  a  trade  with  China 


COMMERCIAL   COMMISSIONS.         223 

amounting  to  two  hundred  and  fifty  million  dol- 
lars a  year  sounds  well,  but  it  is  sheer  nonsense. 

The  report  of  a  commercial  commission  will  not 
contain  anything  that  has  not  been  said  and  resaid 
by  the  consuls  of  all  nations  during  the  past  ten 
years,  or  more  than  was  lately  reported  by  the 
commission  from  the  Philadelphia  Museum.  If 
any  commission  is  to  be  sent  to  China,  it  should 
be  a  political  one,  a  committee  from  Congress, 
whose  recommendations  would  be  accepted  in 
America,  and  whose  opinion  would  be  feared  in 
China.  Lord  Charles  Beresford's  mission,  al- 
though not  political,  was  accepted  as  such  by  the 
Chinese ;  and  his  voice  in  parliament  was  re- 
spectfully listened  to,  and  his  advice  followed. 
On  two  occasions  —  once  on  his  outward,  and 
once  on  his  return  trip  —  I  went  carefully  over 
•with  him  the  results  of  his  investigations;  and 
his  summing  up  of  the  entire  trade  situation  was 
simply  what  every  foreigner  knows  in  China, — 
"  the  fear  of  the  warship  is  the  beginning  of 
trade." 

You  can't  sell  goods  if  the  Chinese  won't  look 
at  them.  The  West  River,  from  Canton  to  Nan- 
king, was  opened  to  foreign  trade  three  years  ago ; 
but  the  Chinese  have  hedged  it  around  with  so 
many  petty  restrictions,  and  permitted  it  to  be- 


224  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

come  the  haunt  of  pirates,  that,  so  far,  they  have 
been  able  to  defeat  the  object  of  the  treaty.  The 
British  are  forced  to  keep  three  gunboats  patrol- 
ling the  three  hundred  miles  between  Canton  and 
Wuchow,  in  order  to  protect  what  little  trade  they 
have.  In  the  early  part  of  1898  the  officials 
found  that  the  people  were  consuming  large  quan- 
tities of  American  kerosene  oil,  and  that  the  busi- 
ness had  so  grown  that  a  small  American  steamer 
was  daring  to  make  regular  trips  between  Hong 
Kong  and  Wuchow.  The  Chinese  could  not, 
under  the  treaty,  forbid  the  import  of  foreign 
goods,  so  they  caused  it  to  be  known  that  if  any 
of  the  oil  was  spilled  on  the  ground  it  would 
ruin  the  crop.  A  panic  ensued  among  the  rus- 
tics ;  and  to  allay  the  excitement,  the  viceroy  was 
asked  to  prohibit  the  importation  of  oil  as  a  war 
measure.  For  a  time  the  people  returned  to  the 
candle-wick,  dipped  in  a  saucer  of  peanut  oil; 
but  the  contrast  was  too  great ;  and  as  there  had 
been  no  failure  of  crops,  they  so  clamored  for 
kerosene  that  the  edict  was  revoked. 

About  the  same  time  the  Italian  consul,  who 
was  a  merchant-consul  of  Hong  Kong,  established 
an  agency  for  the  sale  of  aU  kinds  of  Italian  goods 
in  Wuchow.  His  consular  title  protected  his  go- 
down;    and  the  first  year,  while  he  was  getting 


POSITION  OF  IMPORTERS.  225 

established,  and  really  losing  money,  no  oppo- 
sition was  shown  to  his  enterprise.  The  end  of 
the  second  year  found  him  opening  a  lucrative 
trade  with  a  net  profit  for  the  year  of  seventeen 
thousand  dollars  (Mexicans).  Immediately  petty 
persecutions  of  all  kinds  commenced.  At  the 
beginning  of  the  third  year  the  head  of  the  firm 
resigned  his  consular  functions,  whereupon  a  para- 
graph appeared  in  the  Chinese  papers  of  Hong 
Kong,  that  he  had  been  dismissed  from  office  in 
disgrace,  and  warning  all  Chinese  against  doing 
business  with  him.  The  article,  as  was  afterwards 
proven  in  the  Hong  Kong  courts,  was  inspired  by 
the  Wuchow  officials,  thoroughly  frightened  the 
Chinese,  and  the  Italian  house  was  compelled  to 
take  up  its  agency.  A  suit  was  brought  in  the 
Hong  Kong  Supreme  Court  for  libel,  and  a  judg- 
ment was  awarded  the  Italian. 

These  examples  might  be  multiplied  by  hun- 
dreds, but  they  go  to  show  the  position  Chinese 
take  toward  foreign  imports.  They  are  not  stand- 
ing with  outstretched  hands  praying  for  our  canned 
asparagus  and  our  high  silk  hats,  as  our  news- 
papers and  orators  picture,  nor  will  junketing 
commissions  bring  about  a  desire  for  them.  The 
best  advice  I  can  give  to  merchants  who  honestly 
wish  to  compete  for  China's  trade,  is  to  imitate 


226  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

the  methods  of  the  old-established  English  and 
German  firms.  Gunboats,  earnestness,  diplomacy, 
will  give  us  our  place  in  the  Chinese  market. 

Li  Hung  Chang  grew  very  pathetic  in  picturing 
the  sorrows  we  are  causing  his  people  by  exclud- 
ing them  from  America,  and  especially  the  Philip- 
pine Islands,  forgetting  or  ignoring  the  fact  that 
China  is  a  sealed  nation  to  the  American.  There 
are  seventy  thousand  Chinese  in  San  Francisco 
alone,  against  three  thousand  whites  of  all  nation- 
alities, in  all  China  outside  of  the  treaty  ports. 
Let  Li  open  his  country  to  the  world,  and  then  he 
may  talk  of  "  invidious  distinctions."  The  life  of 
a  foreigner  is  unsafe  ten  miles  from  Canton,  and 
yet  the  viceroy  dwelt  with  sad  emphasis  on  the 
woes  of  a  few  laundrymen  who  were  snow-balled 
in  San  Francisco  by  some  children  during  the  one 
fall  of  snow  of  the  year.  During  my  call  on  the 
prefect  of  Fatshan,  a  city  of  two  millions,  twenty 
miles  from  Canton,  I  was  guarded  by  one  hundred 
and  fifty  soldiers  armed  with  mausers,  and  the 
viceroy  heaved  a  big  sigh  of  relief  when  I  re- 
turned to  Canton  alive  and  uninjured. 

China  should  not  be  permitted  to  continue  a 
hermit  nation  in  this  twentieth  century.  If  the 
concert  of  nations  agrees  to  preserve  its  integrity, 
let  them  first  force  open  the  door,  and  then  nail  it 


LET  IN  THE  SUNLIGHT.  227 

back  to  the  wall,  so  that  the  pure  sunlight  of  modern 
civilization  can  pour  in.  Then,  and  not  until 
then,  will  the  boasted  "  open-door "  policy  mean 
anything,  and  all  trade  will  have  a  fair  field 
without  fear  or  favor. 


228  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 


XIL 

CANTON,   THE   TYPICAL   CITT. 

CANTON  in  China  —  the  China  of  to-day 
and  the  China  of  a  thousand  years.  The 
post-office  address  of  Hong  Kong  is 
"China;"  but  it  is  no  more  the  real  thing  than 
is  Singapore  or  "  Chinatown  "  in  San  Francisco. 

I  had  read  of  Canton  with  its  crowded  streets  ; 
I  had  heard  of  Canton  with  its  smells,  with  its 
execution  ground,  its  pagoda,  its  yamens,  and  of 
shameen ;  but  who  can  describe  Canton  as  it  is  ? 
No  one  —  not  even  the  kodak.  Yet  this  wonderful 
city  is  less  than  a  hundred  miles  up  the  broad 
Pearl  from  Hong  Kong  and  English  civilization. 
Thousands  of  tourists  visit  it  yearly,  and  a  hne  of 
Mississippi  passenger  steamers  daily  ply  between 
the  two  antagonistic  civilizations. 

We  boarded  one  evening  one  of  the  big  side- 
wheelers,  that  had  come  up  from  New  Orleans, 
around  the  Horn ;  we  were  prepared  to  be  disap- 


THE  APPROACH  TO    CANTON.      229 

pointed,  to  be  disgusted,  to  put  up  with  whatever 
came  in  our  way,  but  we  did  not  dare  hope  for 
either  amusement  or  instruction.  We  thought 
we  knew  what  to  expect. 

The  evening  sun  was  lying  full  in  the  mouth  of 
the  sulphur  channel  as  we  boarded  the  big  side- 
wheeler,  "  Honan,"  and  slowly  worked  ahead 
among  a  wilderness  of  junks  and  house-boats. 
The  evening  gun  heralded  the  approach  of  less 
gorgeous  color  in  the  channel  ahead,  and  Hghts 
began  to  flicker  in  the  fishing-villages  on  either 
hand.  We  drew  out  our  chairs  to  the  deck  and 
enjoyed  it  all,  —  the  soft  night  breeze  laden  now 
and  again  with  puffs  of  burning  joss-sticks,  the 
purpling  twilight  full  of  strange  moving  objects, 
the  islands  like  huge  jade-stones  floating  upon 
a  faintly  moonlit  sea,  and  the  sense  that  with 
each  churn  of  the  twin-wheels  we  were  drawing 
nearer  the  heart  of  the  least  understood  empire  on 
earth.  Here  we  were  on  the  other  side  of  the 
ball,  just  as  we  imagined  we  would  be  in  our  school- 
days should  we  dig  a  well  straight  down,  down, 
until  we  struck  daylight,  quite  the  same  as  the 
iiTeverent  oil-prospector  in  Pennsylvania  painted 
above  his  derrick,  "  We're  going  to  drill  till  we 
strike  oil,  hell,  or  China."  In  our  geographies 
there  was   a  wood-cut  of  a  Chinese  mandarin,  in 


230  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

flowing  robes,  walking  sedately  by  the  side  of 
two  naked  coolies  carrying  boxes  of  tea  on  a  pole 
between  them.  It  had  been  my  ambition  as  a  boy, 
to  slip  up  behind  that  mandarin,  and  snip  off  his 
luxuriant  queue  with  a  pair  of  scissors. 

As  we  steamed  into  the  entrance  of  the  great 
river  the  famous  Bogue  forts  loomed  above  us  on 
either  hand.  For  centuries  they  awed  the  navies 
of  the  Western  World;  but  after  Captain  Elliot 
had  dropped  a  few  hundred  pounds  of  British  iron 
into  their  midst,  they  lost  their  invulnerable  char- 
acter, and  became  but  mild  sport  in  the  hands  of 
of  succeeding  fleets.  American  engineers  and 
American  cannon  could  give  them  back  their  de- 
parted prowess,  and  again  their  ramparts  would 
command  the  entrance  to  the  fertile  plains  of  the 
Kwang-tung  province.  The  old  walls  of  brick  and 
mortar  that  have  been  thrice  battered,  ramble  up 
and  down  the  precipitous  sides  of  the  hills,  and 
preserve  the  picturesqueness  of  the  Bogue,  and 
recall  the  days  of  the  East  India  Company. 

Here  and  there  a  fine  six-  or  nine-storied  pagoda 
rises  above  the  interminable  fields  of  rice,  as  use- 
less as  the  ramparts  of  the  Bogue,  but  answering 
the  same  purpose.  They  were  originally  erected 
as  an  abode  for  the  spirits  of  the  air,  but  once 
finished  they  were  left  for  the  spirits  to  do  their 


RIVER   LIFE,  231 

own  cleaning  and  housekeeping.  The  ones  we  in- 
vaded in  Canton  had  not  been  set  to  rights  since 
the  days  of  the  Ming  dynasty.  Our  first  surprise 
came  when  we  were  within  a  few  miles  of  Canton. 
We  flattered  ourselves  that  we  had  seen  high-class 
river-life  in  Japan,  Shanghai,  and  Hong  Kong ; 
but  here  again  our  pride  went  before  a  fall.  We 
entered  a  wilderness  of  boats,  the  homes  of  three 
hundred  thousand  people,  —  streets  of  boats  and 
miles  of  boats.  Sampans,  express-boats,  flower- 
boats,  junks,  fish-boats,  house-boats,  and  man- 
wheel-boats.  We  never  tired  of  watching  these 
last.  They  were  big  wedge-shaped  cargo  lorchas, 
fifty  or  more  feet  long.  Across  the  stern  swung  a 
great  paddle-wheel,  which  was  worked  by  forty  or 
fifty  naked  slaves  on  a  treadmill.  The  workers 
are  locked  in  a  cage ;  and  like  the  prisoners  on 
the  treadmills  they  could  only  keep  on  walking, 
walking,  mile  after  mile  —  sometimes  one  way, 
sometimes  the  other,  as  came  the  word  of  com- 
mand. It  was  wonderful  how  they  dodged  here 
and  there,  forward  and  backward,  elbowing  down 
a  long  lane  of  boats,  and  backing  up  to  a  wharf. 
A  mandarin  man-wheel-boat  dashed  by  with  a 
clash  of  gongs  and  a  salvo  of  yells.  Yellow  and 
red  dragon  flags  bedecked  it,  and  through  the  open 
bull's-eye  windows  we  caught  a  glimpse  of  black- 


232  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

wood  and  Chinese  gilding,  stone  pictures,  paper 
screens.  Ranged  along  the  bank  were  the  flower- 
boats,  ornately  carved  and  resplendent  in  green 
and  gold,  —  the  homes  of  women  who  are  not  per- 
mitted to  live  within  the  city  walls. 

Nearly  everything  in  the  Hong  Kong  market 
comes  from  Canton.  As  we  stood  on  the  deck  of 
the  "  Honan  "  watching  the  river  life,  we  noticed 
nearing  us  below  a  line  of  boats,  deep  sunk  in 
the  water.  In  a  moment  they  were  fastened  to 
the  steamer,  the  flooring  of  each  thrown  back,  ex- 
posing as  many  floating  fish-ponds.  There  were 
live  fish  of  all  sizes  and  all  shapes,  from  the  min- 
now-like whitebait  to  big  red  fellows  that  required 
all  the  agility  and  strength  of  their  captors  to 
manage.  Each  boat  was  divided  in  three  com- 
partments. Then  commenced  a  scene  of  well- 
ordered  confusion.  The  naked  coolies  stood  waist 
deep  in  the  chaos  of  struggling,  writhing  fish,  fill- 
ing basket  after  basket,  pitching  it  to  their  mates 
in  the  bow,  who  in  turn  tossed  it  to  the  coolies 
above,  and  from  there  into  a  tank  of  fresh  water. 
The  fish  arrived  eight  hours  later  a  little  seasick 
and  shopworn,  but  alive  for  the  Hong  Kong 
market. 

From  a  distance,  or  from  a  point  of  vantage. 
Canton  is  one  vast  sea  of  roofs.    Not  a  street,  and 


TEN-STORIED  PAWNSHOPS.  233 

only  here  and  there  a  clump  of  trees,  break  the 
endless  glaze  of  its  tiled  roofs.  The  only  objects 
that  rise  above  the  expanse  are  the  great  ten-sto- 
ried square  granite  pawnshops,  —  veritable  strong- 
holds where  the  rich  deposit  their  jewels  and 
clothing,  and  the  poor  sell  their  precious  bits  of 
jade.  They  are  warehouses  and  pawnshops  in 
one,  and  are  protected  from  mobs  by  guards  on 
the  roof  armed  with  gigantic  syringes  and  buckets 
of  vitriol. 

I  dread  to  invade  Canton  with  the  pen,  as  I 
must  confess  I  feared  the  first  plunge  into  it  with 
my  chair.  My  description  must  fall  as  far  short 
of  the  reality  as  my  wildest  imagination  did  of  the 
maelstrom  that  I  found  myself  in,  fifty  steps  from 
the  Shameen  gate. 

When  we  speak  of  "  narrow  streets,"  the  com- 
parison that  comes  to  the  mind  is  some  of  the  old 
cow-paths  of  Boston,  the  alleys  or  lanes  off  Cheap- 
side  and  the  Strand  in  London,  or  possibly  the 
Juden-Strasse  of  Frankfort,  or  some  Continental 
city.  I  was  prepared  for  narrow  streets  ;  but  I 
had  no  idea  that  when  our  chair  crossed  the  little 
bridge  through  the  guarded  iron  gates  that  pro- 
tect Shameen,  the  little  island  refuge  of  the  Euro- 
peans, and  entered  what  seemed  to  be  the  door  of 
a  house,  that  1  was  traversing  a  bona  fide  street. 


234  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

The  chair  was  a  few  inches  wider  than  my  body, 
and  yet  I  had  to  keep  my  elbows  close  to  my 
sides  to  keep  them  out  of  the  shops  on  either 
side.  Mark  Twain  has  remarked  that  you  could 
not  throw  a  brick-bat  in  Rome  without  breaking 
a  church  window;  but  in  Canton  you  have  to 
choose  your  place  to  knock  the  ashes  off  your 
cigar,  or  they  will  alight  in  a  dish  of  soy  or  dried 
duck  on  the  one  hand,  or  a  pile  of  wonderfully 
wrought  silk  embroidery  on  the  other.  The  shops 
have  no  windows  or  doors.  From  your  chair  you 
can  pick  their  goods  up  on  either  side.  Once  in 
a  while  a  sickly  pencil  of  sunlight  finds  its  way 
down  through  the  little  space  above  our  heads, 
more  seldom  a  breath  of  fresh  air.  Lacquered 
signs  with  golden  legends  hang  downward  bearing 
the  mottoes  or  trade-marks  of  the  shops,  — "  Ever- 
lasting Love,"  "  Benevolence  and  Love,"  "  Ten 
Thousand-fold  Peace,"  "  Thousand  Beatitudes," 
"  The  Saluting  Dragon,"  "  The  Dragon  is  Re- 
pose," etc.,  —  legends  meant  to  entice  the  buyers, 
and  blind  the  spirits  to  the  words  that  are  said 
and  the  things  that  are  done  within.  The  Chi- 
nese credit  their  gods  with  the  attributes  of  men. 
I  say  gods,  for  Chinese,  whether  they  are  styled 
Buddhist  or  Taoist,  are  as  pantheistic  as  the  old 
Greeks.     They  have  gods  for  all  wants;  and  a  new 


SIGNBOARDS.  235 

one  is  born  to  suit  any  new  demand.  A  China- 
man will  lay  as  clever  plans  to  cheat  or  fool  some 
particular  god  as  to  blind  the  eyes  of  a  rival  firm. 
When  the  typhoon  signal  is  up  on  the  Kowloon 
peninsula  across  from  Hong  Kong,  dozens  of  little 
paper  junks  will  be  thrown  overboard  to  float 
gayly  away  on  the  crest  of  the  wave.  It  is  to 
fool  the  god  of  the  storm  into  thinking  each  tiny 
counterfeit  presentment  is  the  original ;  so  he  will 
satisfy  his  wrath  on  it  while  the  master  of  the 
real  junk  sails  safely  away,  laughing  slyly  at  the 
impotent  lashing  of  the  tricked  monster. 

These  Canton  sign-boards  hang  down  as  thick 
as  stalactites,  and  keep  one  eternally  dodging  as 
you  go  swiftly  along  the  streets.  At  points  the 
so-called  lanes  open  up  to  a  width  of  six  feet,  wide 
enough  for  two  chairs  to  pass  ;  but  usually  in  one 
street  the  chairs  all  go  in  the  same  direction, 
while  in  a  parallel  one  they  go  in  the  other.  The 
thousands  of  pedestrians  hug  the  side  walls  as  we 
pass,  or  crowd  into  an  open  shop. 

If  we  wish  to  turn  about,  it  is  necessary  to  in- 
vade one  of  these  shops  with  our  chairs,  and  swing 
it  carefully  around ;  and  if  we  wish  to  stop,  our 
coolies,  with  great  shouting  and  gesticulating,  halt 
the  always  onward  procession  while  we  descend ; 
then  our  chairs  go  on  a  block  or  more  to  an  open 


236  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

space  where  they  can  be  clear  of  the  marchers. 
The  fronts  of  the  silver  and  silk  shops  are  pro- 
tected by  heavy  wooden  bars  set  in  the  sill  and 
lintel  like  stancheons  in  a  cattle  stable.  One  of 
these  is  removed  to  admit  us,  and  put  quickly  back 
in  place.  A  "  sea  of  upturned  faces,"  is  jammed 
against  and  between  the  bars,  and  watches  every 
movement.  The  shops  are  all  alike,  from  the  en- 
trance, possibly  te-n  feet  by  ten  with  joss  altar  in 
the  rear ;  but  in  the  larger  shops  you  pass  back  of 
the  altar,  and  enter  the  real  show-rooms,  large, 
roomy,  and  cool,  away  from  the  awful  din  of  the 
congested  street.  There  is  nothing  to  see,  —  every- 
thing neatly  folded,  and  placed  away  in  locked 
cupboards.  You  ask  for  silk,  embroideries,  fur, 
silver,  ivory,  jade,  and  a  door  opens,  and  you  are 
deluged  with  the  wealth  of  the  kings,  and  at  such 
ridiculous  prices  that  you  sjjend  every  cent.  In 
some  of  the  shops  you  go  up  two  and  three  stories 
into  sunlit  rooms,  full  of  beautiful  Canton  ware, 
rare  Kienlung  vases,  crackle-jars,  fire-color  porce- 
lain josses,  china  dragons. 

It  is  the  stree1>life  however,  that  is  the  most 
fascinating,  the  most  appalling.  Thousands  of 
dried  ducks,  looking  as  though  they  had  gone 
through  a  letter-press,  hang  above  your  head  for 
a   mile.      Restaurants,    butcher-shops,    silk-stores, 


STREET  LIFE.  237 

blacksmiths'  shops,  bamboo-workers,  blackwood 
furniture  "  go-downs,"  shoe-marts,  image-makers, 
ivory-carvers,  book-stalls,  jade-stone  rooms,  second- 
hand-clothes houses,  rattan-factories,  and  every- 
thing rub  shoulders,  and  carry  on  business  in 
peace  of  mind  and  a  tremendous  noise.  Crowds 
follow  you  everywhere  for  miles.  Be-draggled, 
dirty,  red-coated  soldiers  of  the  viceroy  or  Tartar 
general's  yaraen  desert  their  posts  to  join  the 
procession.  Our  coolies  go  swiftly  on,  yelling 
and  expostulating,  sometimes  seemingly  to  their 
own  destruction,  in  the  "  camel's  eye  "  of  the  old 
walls,  sometimes  through  a  crowd  that  it  would 
not  seem  that  a  respectable  fly  would  attempt,  but 
always  on,  for  it  is  our  only  salvation. 

It  gives  one  the  horrors  to  think  of  being  de- 
serted in  the  heart  of  the  city.  You  could  wander 
until  the  gray  hairs  came,  without  ever  finding 
your  way  out.  There  is  no  such  thing  as  a  straight 
line,  or  a  chance  to  take  your  bearing  from  the 
sun.  It  is  a  bedlam,  a  babel,  a  chaos,  a  lunatic 
asylum,  in  one,  and  yet  everyone  is  going  sedately 
about  on  his  own  business.  The  first  day  I  said 
I  could  wander  forever  through  these  wonderful 
thoroughfares ;  the  second  day  my  ears  ached,  and 
my  brain  was  dizzy.  I  was  glad  to  return  to  the 
European  city  of  refuge,  Shameen. 


238  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

Shameen  is  an  artificial  oval  island,  a  half  a 
mile  long  and  some  three  hundred  yards  in 
breadth.  It  is  made  up  of  the  English  and  French 
concessions.  Its  south  bund  bounds  the  harbor, 
and  a  deep  stone-lined  canal  separates  it  from  the 
city.  Two  iron  bridges  with  heavy  gates  connect 
it  with  the  mainland,  and  a  guard  of  Chinese 
soldiers  protect  it  night  and  day.  No  Chinaman, 
unless  he  has  a  pass,  is  allowed  to  cross ;  at  six 
o'clock  every  night,  and  again  at  nine  the  heavy 
gong  beats ;  there  is  a  blare  of  trumpets ;  a 
cannon  fires;  the  gates  are  closed,  and  the  for- 
eingner  lies  down  to  sleep  as  safe  as  though  he 
were  in  Hong  Kong  or  New  York.  The  little 
settlement  is  as  beautiful  as  a  suburb  on  the 
Hudson,  —  broad  walks  shaded  with  Banyan-trees, 
pretty  gardens,  broad  tennis-courts,  a  bicycle 
track,  and  handsome  brick  houses,  make  one  forget 
China.  The  trees  are  full  of  wild  pigeons  and 
ring-doves,  thrushes  and  blackbirds;  and  the  air  is 
melodious  with  the  twittering  of  the  fungilla,  and 
the  whistle  of  the  bittern,  while  sparrows  flutter 
from  covert  to  covert.  The  history  of  Shameen 
is  the  history  of  Canton  for  the  past  two  hundred 
years,  and  in  a  large  measure  the  history  of  Hong 
Kong.  But  what  was  once  a  prison  is  now  a  de- 
lightful park,  a  preserve  for  our  own  race. 


THE   GODS'   ACCOUNT-BOOK.  239 

In  spite  of  appearances  we  soon  found  that  we 
were  not  wandering  aimlessly  through  this  inter- 
minable network  of  streets.  We  had  begun  to 
think  that  the  sights  of  Canton  were  kingfisher 
workers,  rice-paper  studios,  and  a  maze  of  smells, 
when  our  chairs  were  set  down  before  some  pon- 
derous gates  that  swung  in  the  wind,  and  (so 
they  were  labeled)  protected  from  the  rain  a  col- 
lection of  the  halt  and  the  blind. 

The  cold  weather  was  coming  on,  and  with  it 
the  season  of  Chinese  New  Year,  and  the  beggars 
were  swarming  in  from  the  country  districts.  A 
few  rods  along  the  wall  sat  a  coolie  with  a  bag 
the  size  of  a  flour-sack,  full  of  copper  cash,  tied 
up  in  bunches  of  ten.  A  line  of  beggars  had 
formed  before  him,  and  as  they  passed  he  put  into 
each  outstretched  hand  one  of  the  bunches.  He 
was  one  of  the  retainers  of  a  rich  merchant  or 
mandarin,  who  was  desirous  of  "  laying  up  benevo- 
lence for  himself."  He  cared  nothing  for  the 
beggars,  and  might  the  next  hour  trample  them 
down  with  his  horse ;  but  the  Chinese  believe 
that  their  gods  keep  an  account-book  with  debit 
and  credit  sides.  Every  good  act  counterbalances 
a  bad  one,  so  in  the  winter  months  they  lay  in  a 
stock  of  credits  for  the  year's  use  by  distributing 
"  cash  "  and  rice  to  the  beggars.     Every  Chinaman 


240  CHINA'S  OPEN  DOOR. 

keeps  a  ledger  on  his  own  account,  for  fear  the 
god  will  overlook  a  good  deed  or  so ;  and  when 
he  discovers  his  credits  running  low,  he  sends  out 
a  runner  to  a  temple  gate  to  lay  up  more  merit. 
There  is  where  a  kodak  would  have  been  useful. 
The  little  comedy  made  us  forget  for  the  moment 
that  we  were  standing  at  the  dragon  gate  of  the 
world  famed  "  Examination  Hall "  of  Canton, 
where  the  triennial  examinations  for  the  degree  of 
bachelor  of  arts  take  place.  Next  to  Peking 
this  was  the  greatest  university  in  the  world; 
more  students  meet  within  its  courts  and  stone 
cells  than  in  the  halls  and  corridors  of  Harvard, 
Yale,  Oxford,  and  all  the  big  universities  of 
America  and  England  put  together.  Within  its 
precincts  issues  affecting,  in  a  greater  or  less  de- 
gree, the  destinies  of  the  empire  are  determined. 
Every  male,  rich  or  poor,  humble  or  great,  may 
try,  at  the  expense  of  the  state,  for  the  coveted 
degree  of  "  Ku-yan  "  (A.B.).  Among  the  twenty 
thousand  are  striplings  and  their  fathers,  boys  of 
eighteen  and  sires  of  eighty. 

There  are  no  dormitories  to  the  university. 
The  student  may  study  wherever  he  listeth,  at  the 
viceroy's  Hterary  club,  or  in  the  hovel,  and  come 
up  for  his  examination  whenever  he  feels  quaUfied. 
He  may  try  as  often  as  he  chooses,  but  the  rewards 


THE   EXAMINATION  HALL.  241 

are  glittering  enough  to  cause  everyoile  of  the  thou- 
sands of  stone  cells  that  line  the  broad  granite 
boulevard  to  be  taken.  The  successful  candidates 
are  given  government  employment,  while  the 
three  highest  are,  in  addition  to  rank  and  position, 
awarded  settled  incomes,  so  that  they  are  free  to 
continue  their  studies  if  they  do  not  care  for 
political  preferment.  There  is  no  progression,  no 
advancement,  nothing  modern  in  this  university. 
The  themes  and  questions  are  from  the  classics, 
the  same  to-day  as  a  hundred  years  ago,  the  same 
as  five  hundred.  The  honor  man,  who  for  the 
time  being  is  greater  than  the  viceroy,  knows  the 
"Confucian  Analects,"  "The  Doctrine  of  the 
Man,"  the  book  of  "  Mencius  "  the  "  Ti  King,"  by 
heart ;  he  is  able  to  locate  and  bound  the  route  of 
Confucius'  travels,  and  explain  the  superstitions 
of  the  stars ;  but  he  never  heard  of  New  York,  nor 
has  the  faintest  idea  of  the  law  of  gravitation  or 
the  physical  geography  of  the  earth.  The  chances 
are,  if  he  came  from  the  interior  of  China,  that  he 
is  ignorant  of  the  opium  war,  the  Japanese  war, 
and  fondly  believes  that  all  kings  are  still  paying 
homage  to  his  emperor. 

A  high  stone  wall  incloses  the  university,  from 
the  dragon  gate  to  the  quarter  of  the  examiners ; 
and  from  the  yamen  of   the    viceroy  stretches  a 


242  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

broad  stone  causeway,  at  right  angles  to  which 
are  closely  packed  streets  or  lanes  of  small  open 
brick-built  cells,  measurmg  five  and  a  half  feet 
long,  three  feet  eight  inches  broad,  by  six  feet 
high.  In  these  cells,  which  contain  a  bare  wooden 
bench  on  the  one  side  and  a  shelf  on  the  other, 
the  student  must  stay  night  and  day,  for  from 
two  to  three  weeks,  writing  on  his  themes,  and 
answering  questions.  He  is  allowed  to  come  out 
upon  the  central  promenade  three  times  a  day  to 
cook  rice  and  get  water ;  but  most  of  the  students 
bring  their  provisions  already  cooked,  so  as  to 
save  time. 

The  examinations  take  place  in  the  fall;  the 
weather  is  hot,  the  air  from  the  surrounding  city 
fetid  ;  twenty  thousand  men  are  crowded  in  a  space 
like  cattle  in  a  stable  ;  and  every  day  one  to  a  dozen 
workers  break  down,  and  have  to  be  carried  out- 
side the  gates.  There  are  always  a  number  of 
deaths,  and  the  strain  and  the  heat  require 
physical  staying  qualities  as  well  as  mental. 

The  viceroy's  temporary  yamen  is  spacious,  but 
far  from  attractive  when  unused.  We  wandered 
about  as  freely  as  the  trains  of  beggars  and  pariah 
dogs  would  permit,  and  we  had  to  accept  on  faith 
the  statement  of  our  scrofulous  cicerone,  that  the 
yamen  was  very  gorgeous  during  examination  time. 


THE   TAMEN.  243 

All  the  public  buildings  in  China  are  erected 
with  the  idea  that  they  are  to  last  forever,  and 
that  any  repairs  or  house-cleaning,  beyond  the  re- 
newal of  the  oiled  paper  of  the  windows,  is  a  sin- 
ful extravagance.  Nothing  but  fire  could  ever 
clean  Canton. 

We  stopped  before  the  yamen  of  the  Tartar 
major-general.  The  street  here  was  a  little  broader, 
and  before  the  palace-gate  were  heaps  of  offal  and 
refuse  on  which  a  corps  of  red-coated  brigands 
were  gambling  and  quarreling.  We  entered, 
stepping  over  an  old  hag  who  was  skinning  a  cat, 
entered  a  dirty  court-yard  inhabited  by  beggars, 
soldiers,  and  smells,  through  another  gate  into  an 
Inner  court,  around  which  were  a  row  of  offices 
for  minor  officials.  We  were  allowed  to  go  no 
farther.  A  mandarin  came  out  from  beyond  the 
inner  court,  immaculately  dressed  in  flowing  silk 
skirts,  and  passed  us  by  without  bestowing  a 
glance  in  our  direction.  Our  mob  of  begging  fol- 
lowers opened  for  him  to  pass,  but  gave  him  no 
more  attention  than  he  gave  us. 

The  yamen  was  typical  of  the  empire.  A 
British  army  officer  who  was  with  the  army  that 
captured  Peking,  and  entered  the  emperor's  palace 
in  the  "  Pink  City,"  told  me  that  he  expected  at 
last  to  see   something  of   the  magnificence  that 


244  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

rumor  claimed  surrounded  the  sacred  person  of 
the  emperor.  He  found  the  same  dirt,  squalor, 
disorganization,  and  lack  of  even  the  comforts,  on 
a  grand  scale,  that  he  had  grown  familiar  with  in 
the  yamens  and  temples  of  Canton  and  Nanking. 
The  Chinese  lay  out  their  palaces  on  a  magnifi- 
cent scale.  They  take  acres  of  ground  in  the 
heart  of  a  city  where  there  is  no  ground  to  spare  for 
respectable  streets.  The  eaves,  angles,  and  corners 
are  filled  with  the  most  expensive  and  most  "  ar- 
tistic "  porcelain  gargoyles,  josses,  holy  men,  and 
devils.  Whole  scenes  from  the  life  of  Buddha,  in 
beautiful  "  five-colored  '  porcelain,  fill  the  sides  of 
the  wall.  Court  scenes,  bits  in  Nirvanah,  corners 
in  heaven,  peeps  into  hell,  are  pictured  with  the 
wonderful  exactness  of  detail,  and  scrupulous 
nicety  as  to  finish,  that  distinguish  the  Chinese 
artist.  The  gates  of  the  yaraen  are  wonderfully 
and  fearfully  carved,  and  heroic-sized  gods,  look- 
ing the  picture  of  the  giant  in  "  Jack-and-the- 
Beanstalk,"  grin  at  you  from  either  side.  Every- 
thing is  done  that  money,  labor,  and  Chinese  taste 
can  accomplish ;  and  then  these  princely  yamens, 
in  every  instance,  are  left  to  go  to  decay,  the  courts 
to  become  a  dumping-ground  for  the  inmates,  the 
garden  to  be  used  for  the  same  purpose,  until 
everything  becomes  so  filthy  that  an  American 


THE  LITERARY  CLUB,  245 

would  not  make  butter  from  cows  stabled  within 
the  viceregal  precincts. 

The  strange  thing  is,  that  of  all  classes,  the 
Chinese  seem  to  be  utterly  unconscious  of  the  in- 
congruity of  it  all.  At  the  viceroy's  "  Literary 
Club  "  or  the  Public  Library,  where  the  students 
are  supposed  to  read  and  study  for  the  examina- 
tions, we  stood  on  the  veranda  above  an  artisti- 
cally designed  bevy  of  miniature  lakes  and  moun- 
tains. Our  guide,  who  for  twenty-five  years  had 
been  interpreter  of  the  U.  S.  Consulate,  pointed 
out  with  great  zest  the  materials  of  which  the 
mountains,  grottos,  and  caves  were  made,  as  having 
been  brought  over  one  thousand  miles  on  the  backs 
of  coolies  from  a  sacred  mountain  in  western  China, 
—  he  claimed  that  each  stone  was  worth  its  weight 
in  silver, —  (it  was  lava)  ;  he  called  our  attention 
to  other  things,  but  he  never  once  noticed  that 
in  the  shallow  water  that  was  so  expensively 
framed  was  a  dead  dog,  a  cart-load  of  empty  cans, 
broken  jars,  and  a  thick  covering  of  oily  green 
slime.  The  fact  that  the  money  had  been  spent 
on  these  acres  of  rambling  buildings  was  enough. 
We  did  not  find  one  student  or  reader ;  but  this  did 
not  surprise  us,  as  we  never  found  a  worshiper  in 
any  of  the  temples  in  all  China. 

The  temples  are  in  no  way  comparable  to  those 


246  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

of  Japan.  They  are  simply  vast  collections  of 
courts  and  quarters  for  the  priests.  The  central 
temple  is  decorated  about  its  eaves  in  the  same 
style  as  the  yamens.  There  is  no  pretense  of 
architectural  decoration  or  beauty ;  the  floors  are 
of  hard-beaten  earth  or  flagstones,  usually  covered 
with  drying  mats  or  paper;  the  images  of  Buddha 
and  the  rest  —  usually  gigantic  in  size,  and  covered 
with  goldleaf ,  —  are  arranged  round  the  walls, 
with  here  and  there  a  punk-stick  burning  before 
a  favorite.  The  priests  are  almost  as  ragged,  just 
as  dirty,  and  greater  beggars  than  the  professionals 
that  crowd  about  the  gates.  As  you  go  about  their 
damp,  dimly  lighted  strongholds,  they  follow  you 
closely  with  an  always  outstretched  dirty  palm. 
There  is  practically  no  religion  in  China.  If  a 
Chinaman  is  in  trouble,  or  needs  help  or  "  face," 
he  goes  to  the  nearest  temple,  and  prays  to  any  one 
of  the  five  hundred  idols  that  has  the  best  reputa- 
tion. If  his  petition  is  not  answered,  he  tries  an- 
other, and  so  on  —  Buddists  and  Taoists,  or  even 
the  gilded  image  of  IVIarco  Polo,  it  is  all  the  same 
to  him.  If  his  prayer  is  finally  answered,  he  be- 
comes, for  the  time  being,  a  patron  of  the  temple 
of  that  particular  god.  Yet  everyone  studies  the 
Confucius  classics  from  childhood,  and  quotes 
their  beautiful  epigrams  on  all  occasions. 


THE  EMPEROR'S   TEMPLE,  247 

Chin  Sine,  our  enthusiastic  guide,  realized  at 
last  that  we  were  tired  of  his  temples  ;  and  when 
the  mistress  positively  refused  to  enter  "  The 
Temple  of  the  God  of  Literature "  he  begged 
earnestly  that  for  the  good  name  of  the  great  city, 
we  should  see  "  The  Emperor's  Temple  or  Ten 
Thousand  Years  Palace."  Against  our  better 
judgment  we  weakly  consented.  I  hate  to  explore 
a  city,  and  then  have  some  one  exclaim,  when  I  am 
on  the  other  side  of  the  world,  "  Did  you  see  the 
Emperor's  Temple  at  Canton  ?  "  We  came  to  the 
usual  brick  wall  lined  with  beggars  and  mandarins' 
servants  "  laying  up  merit,"  and  the  usual  monu- 
mental arch,  which  the  guide-books  style  "grand" 
and  "lofty,"  with  the  usual  iron-studded  gates, 
aswing,  and  the  usual  dead  dog.  Within  the 
gates  is  an  open  field  of  some  two  acres,  where 
the  retinue  wait  once  a  year,  on  New  Year's  Day, 
and  pray,  while  the  local  representative  of  the 
"  Son  of  Heaven "  prostates  himself  before  the 
carved  facsimile  of  the  dragon  throne.  The  court 
is  overgrown  with  weeds,  and  strewn  with  empty 
cans,  and  the  royal  altar  is  of  the  flimsiest  painted 
wood.  The  insignia  and  standards  of  royalty  that 
flank  this  pretentious  erection  are  such  as  would 
cast  ridicule  on  a  cheap  Chinese  theatrical  com- 
pany.    Even  the  celebrated  tablet  that  bears  the 


248  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

inscription  "  May  the  Emperor  reign  ten  thousand 
years,  ten  thousand  times  ten  thousand  years,"  is 
no  improvement  on  the  millions  of  sign-boards 
among  which  we  had  been  dodging  during  the 
past  few  days.  "  Everything,"  "  very  big,"  I 
assured  Chue  Sine,  and  he  departed  satisfied. 
We  went  to  no  more  temples. 

Our  chair  stopped  before  an  open  space,  some 
twenty-five  yards  by  ten  yards,  right  in  the  heart 
of  the  city.  It  was  open  to  the  sky  only ;  the 
ground  was  covered  with  rude  earthenware  ves- 
sels drying  in  the  sun.  One  of  the  potters  rushed 
forward,  motioning  us  frantically  to  follow  him 
in  preference  to  any  of  his  co-laborers.  We  did 
so,  stepping  over  the  half-baked  clay  pots.  From 
underneath  a  pile  of  rubbish  he  brought  forth  a 
skull,  which  he  displayed  with  one  hand,  while  the 
other  was  outstretched  for  the  usual  "  cumshaw." 

"  What  is  this  all  about?  "  I  inquired  of  my  in- 
terpreter, who  was  smiling  blandly  from  among  a 
body-guard  of  naked  clay  workmen.  I  noted  the 
low  sheds,  the  open  street,  the  unobstructed  use 
of  ground  that  must  be  worth  a  thousand  dollars 
an  inch,  for  so  lowly  a  purpose,  and  made  up  my 
mind  that  I  was  about  to  stumble  upon  one  more 
strange  freak  of  the  Chinese  character.     "  It  is 


THE  EXECUTION  GROUND.  249 

the  execution  ground,"  he  replied,  amazed  at  my 
lacking  perspicuity. 

The  execution  ground  is  the  most  world-wide 
famous  spot  in  Canton,  the  place  of  horrible 
tales  and  bloody  deeds.  I  had  pictured  a  Gol- 
gotha, a  place  of  skulls,  a  sickening  Black  Hole, 
flocks  of  vultures,  and  herds  of  rats,  and  had  been 
steeling  my  nerves  all  day. 

I  found  a  potter's  field,  and  one  skull  whose 
genuineness  I  doubted.  It  was  another  disen- 
chantment ;  and  yet  the  spot  on  which'  we  stood, 
this  little  open  lot  in  the  heart  of  Canton,  had 
drunk  more  blood  than  any  other  one  spot  in  the 
world ;  had  felt  the  pressure  of  the  knees  of 
more  victims  than  were  killed  in  the  Napoleonic 
wars. 

As  we  stood  we  were  liable  to  be  the  unwilling 
witness  of  one  or  more  executions.  There  is  no 
set  time  ;  the  criminals  never  know  the  hour  or 
the  minute;  neither  does  the  tourist.  The  victims 
are  taken  from  their  prison  cell  in  baskets,  and 
dumped  on  this,  their  last  spot  among  the  living. 
With  their  hands  pinioned,  they  are  made  to 
kneel  and  bend  their  heads  —  side  by  side  in  a 
long  row.  The  presiding  mandarin  enters  the 
open,  preceded  by  a  small  table  covered  with  red. 
The  kneelers  are  not  kept  long  in  suspense.     At 


250  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

a  word  from  the  official  the  naked  executioner 
commences  at  one  end  of  the  waiting  line,  and 
with  his  sword  mows  off  the  bended  necks,  as  the 
small  boy  with  a  switch  plays  havoc  in  a  meadow 
of  buttercups. 

If  the  Chinese  were  good  Catholics,  they  would 
cross  themselves  whenever  they  passed  this  spot ; 
and  if  ghosts  of  the  departed  haunt  the  place 
of  their  death,  every  breath  of  air  must  have  con- 
tained millions  of  their  spirits. 

When  the  haughty  Viceroy  Yeh  found  that  his 
soldiers,  his  cannon,  his  fire-ships,  his  fleet  of 
junks,  were  as  things  of  paper  in  the  hands  of  the 
allies  without  the  walls,  his  savage  soul  thirsted 
for  blood.  If  he  could  not  have  the  blood  of  the 
English,  he  would  have  blood  ;  so  all  that  Christ- 
mas day  of  1859,  and  every  day  after,  until  a  Brit- 
ish marine  laid  impious  hands  on  his  queue,  as  he 
was  vainly  trying  to  scale  the  wall  of  his  own 
yamen,  he  watched  the  heads  of  kneeling  lines  of 
his  own  soldiers  fall  under  the  hands  of  his  gigan- 
tic, tireless  butcher,  until  the  sandy  soil  refused  to 
drink  more  blood,  and  the  streets  ran  red. 

In  the  corner  of  the  field  were  several  wooden 
crosses,  to  be  used  for  the  milder  forms  of  execu- 
tion, such  as  strangulation,  and  "  Ling  Chi,"  or 
cutting  into  a  thousand  pieces. 


THE   JFATER    CLOCK.  251 

By  this  time  the  crowd  had  wedged  in  about 
us  until  there  was  no  room  for  our  earthly  bodies, 
or  for  the  souls  of  the  departed ;  and  there  was 
much  murmuring  because  we  did  not  bribe  the 
head  jailer  to  arrange  for  an  execution.  I  gave 
the  curator  of  the  clay  skull  one  hundred  cash, 
and  we  escaped  without  stepping  on  any  of  the 
pottery. 

Not  so  very  far  from  the  execution  ground  — 
but  just  how  far  it  would  be  impossible  to  state, 
except  from  the  vantage  point  of  a  balloon  —  a  big 
tower  straddles  a  bazar-like  thoroughfare,  and  a 
winding  line  of  rough  stone  steps  leads  two  stories 
to  the  Water  Clock,  or  Clepsydra.  It  is  running 
to-day  as  it  has  for  five  hundred  years,  and  with- 
out a  big  bulletin  board  announces  the  time  o' 
day. 

On  the  inner  door  was  a  notice  that  showed 
that  the  keeper  realized  that  the  ancient  time- 
piece was  a  medium  of  "  squeeze." 

"  K  every  body  who  enter" 
"  this  room  to  see  pour  out " 
"  leakies  of  copper  pots  " 
"  ought  to  pay  us  ten  cents." 

"We  paid  the  ten  cents  after  a  vigorous  protest 
from  Chue  Sine,  the  interpreter,  and  entered  a 
dark  room  which  held  three  copper  vessels,  placed 


252  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR, 

one  above  the  other  on  a  step-like  a  platform.  In 
the  bottom  vessel  is  a  float  with  an  indicator  scale 
passing  through  it,  which,  as  the  water  fills  the 
lower  vessel,  rises  and  shows  the  time  The  small 
holes  in  each  pot  were  just  large  enough  to  allow 
one  drop  of  water  to  escape  each  second.  From 
the  balcony  of  the  tower  we  could  look  out  on  to 
the  sea  of  roofs  of  the  streetless  city  —  roofs  so 
etherial  that  the  wonder  is  how  they  withstand  a 
vigorous  rainstorm. 

We  left  the  viceroy's  yamen  a  little  after  noon. 
I  incidentally  mentioned  to  Chue  that  we  would 
be  unable  to  do  any  more  sight-seeing  until  we 
had  partaken  of  some  one's  hospitality.  The 
idea  was  accepted  favorably,  and  our  chairs  were 
headed  toward  a  flight  of  steps  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
or  so  in  length,  and  a  hill  where  we  were  informed 
was  a  pagoda.  In  our  American  eyes  it  was  only 
right  that  we  should  relieve  our  bearers  by  climb- 
the  steps,  but  Chue  preferred  to  ride ;  he  ex- 
plained that  his  trousers  were  stuffed  with  goose- 
feathers,  and  it  was  not  comfortable  to  get  unduly 
warm.  The  distance  traversed  from  the  moment 
we  left  the  foot  of  the  hill  until  we  reached  the 
gates  of  the  big  red  "  Five-storied  Pagoda  "  was 
q-round  reserved  for  military  purposes  for  so  called 
defense.     Fifty  years  ago  the  pJlies  proved  conclu- 


THE  FIVE  STORIED   PAGODA.       253 

sively  that  the  Chinese  military  science  was  obso- 
lete ;  that  their  walls,  hills,  pagodas,  smooth-bore 
cannons,  belonged  to  the  period  of  the  siege  of 
Constantinople ;  and  yet  to-day  these  hills  within 
the  walls,  embracing  acres  of  the  only  desirable 
residential  plots  in  Canton,  are  still  kept  inviolate 
by  the  command  of  some  emperor  of  the  Ming 
dynasty.  The  defenses  of  Hong  Kong  are  only 
one  hundred  miles  away ;  they  have  had  no  more 
effect  on  the  science  of  Chinese  warfare  than  have 
the  three  hundred  years  of  missionary  labor  on 
Chinese  ideas  of  life  and  religion. 

The  pagoda  is  untenanted  save  in  the  fifth 
story,  where  a  Chinaman  has  two  small  tables  and 
a  box  of  tea.  Chue  Sine  had  provided  us  with  a 
lunch  from  the  hotel,  and  we  added  it  to  our  host's 
tea.  We  paid  ten  Canton  cents  each  for  the  use 
of  the  rickety  table  and  a  much-used  table-cloth, 
and  five  cents  more  for  a  cup  of  tea  made  as  an 
infusion  and  not  a  decoction  ;  but  we  paid  nothing 
for  the  view,  and  it  was  worth  the  price  of  the 
pagoda.  The  pagoda  itself  is  situated  directly  on 
the  top  of  the  wall  —  a  shining  mark  for  barbarian 
cannon.  Directly  below  us,  within  the  military 
reservation,  is  the  government  powder  factory, 
directly  in  line  with  all  the  shells  that  missed  the 
pagoda.     Whenever  the  mill  accumulates  a  stock 


254  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

of  powder  that  excels  the  demand,  and  there  is 
danger  of  the  mill  being  closed,  the  balance  of 
trade  is  brought  their  way  by  the  aid  of  a  match. 
There  have  been  two  explosions  within  the  last 
six  months. 

The  streetless  city  stretched  away  to  the  banks 
of  the  Pearl,  with  its  maze  of  shipping,  broken 
here  and  there  by  the  towering  pawnshops,  and 
the  open  space  about  yamens  and  temples.  With- 
out the  walls  the  country  is  brown  and  hilly,  and 
as  destitute  of  population  as  though  every  soul 
demanded  the  protection  of  the  crumbUng  walls, 
whose  ponderous  gates  are  still  closed  at  six 
o'clock  each  night  with  a  fanfar  of  trumpets. 
For  two  hundred  years  this  warlike  ceremony,  ac- 
companied as  it  was  with  a  show  of  such  sublime 
confidence  and  high-bred  arrogance,  impressed 
and  awed  England  and  France.  Even  when  the 
allies  came  over  the  brown  hills  with  scaling-lad- 
ders and  hand  grenades,  the  chiefs  of  the  city  sat 
where  we  were  drinking  tea,  and  smiled  at  the 
inward-rushing  band.  They  did  not  even  pity 
them,  they  were  beneath  pity.  Directly  below, 
at  regular  intervals,  were  the  cannon  that  were 
only  waiting  the  match  to  eat  them  up.  Sud- 
denly the  Foreign  Devils  were  over  the  walls,  and 
swarming  up  the  steps  of  the  pagoda.     The  ar- 


ANCIENT  DEFENSES.  255 

tillery  had  gone  off,  but  no  one  happened  to  be 
within  range.  Afterwards  the  Tartar  general, 
apologizing  for  his  defeat,  explained  to  Peking  that 
the  barbarians  did  not  fight  fair.  They  came  in 
long,  thin  lines,  at  regular  distances,  half  way 
between  each  cannon;  and  as  the  cannon  were 
stationary,  and  could  only  be  fired  straight  ahead, 
and  as  the  barbarians  kept  out  of  range,  no  one 
was  hurt.  We  laughed  as  we  walked  along  the 
wall  past  one  ancient  gun  after  another.  It  was 
all  so  simple  and  ingenious,  —  this  expecting  an 
enemy  to  stand  up  before  the  mouths  of  the  old 
pieces.  The  walls,  however,  are  really  impressive, 
broad  enough  for  a  carriage  to  drive  on  their  top ; 
and  if  they  were  at  Newport  or  on  the  Riveira 
they  would  become  a  famous  promenade.  There 
are  lots  of  good  building  material  in  them;  and 
some  day,  when  the  utilitarians  agree  to  capture 
Canton,  it  wiU  go  to  make  a  city  worthy  of  so 
great  a  population. 

Our  pagoda  was  only  five  stories  high,  and 
quite  a  youngster  in  point  of  years.  Five  hundred 
years  does  not  count  for  much  in  China.  Later 
we  visited  the  most  perfect  of  all  pagodas  in  Can- 
ton,—  "  The  Floweiy  Pagoda," — which  was  nine 
stories,  some  three  hundred  feet  high,  and  dates 
back  fourteen  hundred  years.     Each  stoiy  repre- 


256  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

sents  a  Buddhist  heaven  ;  and  had  it  not  been  for 
the  quarreling  of  our  chair-coolies  over  the  rem- 
nants of  our  lunch,  and  the  yelping  of  a  band  of 
half-starved  dogs  without  the  walls,  our  "fifth 
heaven"  would  have  been  as  dehghtful  a  place  to 
spend  an  hour  and  eat  our  tiffin  in  as  any  well- 
regulated  heathen  heaven.  Chue  was  telling  us 
about  his  sickness.  He  was  well  now;  and  he 
ascribed  his  cure  to  "  Deerhorn  "  and  "  Ginseng." 
The  medicines  he  had  already  shown  us  in  a 
native  shop.  "  I  take  three  hundred  dollars'  worth 
of  deerhorn  and  drink  nine  hundred  dollars' 
worth  of  ginseng;  now  I  well."  One  deerhorn 
of  the  best  quality  had  cost  him  four  hundred 
and  fifty  dollars,  and  one  ounce  of  Manchuria 
ginseng,  shaped  like  a  man,  a  himdred  dollars. 
I  advised  him  to  try  cow's  horn  next  time,  and 
catnip  tea,  but  there  was  no  shaking  his  behef  in 
the  Chinese  materia  medica,  including  horned 
toads,  peppermint-oil,  orange-peel,  and  tigers' 
teeth,  although  otherwise  he  was  a  good  Chris- 
tian. I  asked  Chue  how  he  became  a  Christian. 
"  I  know  very  nice  man  in  Australia ;  he  n}y 
friend ;  he  tell  me  Jesus  come  to  earth  to  save 
me ;  I  believe  him,  so  I  Christian." 

The  Jews  and  Canton  are  strangers.     The  Chi 
naman  leaves  no  pickings  for   vultures,  rats,  or 


CANTONESE   ECONOMY.  257 

even  Jews.  The  "  chosen  people "  are  easily- 
beaten  at  their  own  game  by  the  humblest  shop- 
keeper, —  the  hardest  workers  and  closest  eaters 
on  earth.  No  scrap  or  beast  is  despised  in  their 
system  of  economy;  and  their  day  contains 
twenty-four  working-hours  with  no  artificial  divis- 
ion as  to  periods  of  rest.  The  sounds  of  toil  and 
barter  go  on  all  night  without  seeming  diminu- 
tion. Our  chair  coolies  sleep  while  we  eat  our 
tiffin,  or  wander  about  the  "  City  of  the  Dead," 
or  invade  the  dank  shadows  of  a  mouldy  temple; 
sleep  sitting  or  lying  with  the  innocence  of  babes, 
and  the  cheerful  knowledge  that  they  had  nothing 
on  worth  stealing,  while  we  pay  for  their  time,  so 
making  double  wages.  When  tiffin  was  finished 
they  quarreled  for  the  ends  of  crusts  and  the  rich 
man's  crumbs,  not  that  they  were  hungry,  but  it 
was  part  of  their  inborn  system  of  economy. 

Although  a  self-confessed  Christian,  Chue  could 
not  understand  the  mistress's  repugnance  to  dogs 
as  an  article  of  diet.  Even  she  had  to  confess 
later  that  they  did  not  look  half  bad  as  they 
hung  skinned  and  quartered  on  the  walls  along 
the  street  of  the  butchers,  with  only  the  bushy 
tips  of  their  tails  left  to  distinguish  them  from 
the  sheep.  There  should  be  no  "  New  World's  " 
prejudice  to  dogs'  meat.     We  went  to  a  Chinese 


258  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

dinner,  and  enjoyed  sharks'  fins,  birds'  nests,  and 
fungus,  and  a  dish  that  was  called  minced  quail, 
but  which  my  communicative  host  told  me  later 
on  was  an  expensive  breed  of  dog  that  came  from 
North  China.  We  ate  the  menu  to  its  sweet  end, 
and  agreed  with  him  when  he  naively  admitted 
that  "  European  fare  might  be  more  substantial, 
but  for  flavor  he  preferred  his  own."  Sharks' 
fins  and  birds'  nests  are  expensive  ;  one  dollar  a 
pound  for  the  first,  and  five  dollars  for  the  last, 
would  be  considered  a  luxury  by  the  frequenters 
of  Delmonico's ;  but  the  very  fact  that  their 
consumption  is  exclusively  Chinese  makes  them, 
nationally,  an  economy,  gives  employment  to  thou- 
sands of  people,  relieves  the  demand,  and  thus 
cheapens  beef  and  horse,  the  beasts  of  burden. 

We  started  out  one  morning  to  visit  the  "  City 
of  the  Dead,"  the  "  Leper  Village,"  and  the  mint. 
It  is  an  hour's  ride  from  the  Shameen  Gate  to  the 
door  of  the  mint,  outside  the  walls,  within  sight 
of  the  "  Five-Storied  Pagoda."  As  we  jogged  at 
a  dog-trot  through  the  maze  of  streets,  we  re- 
peatedly passed  through  the  city  walls.  The  dis- 
used gates  are  swung  open;  and  in  their  roomy 
arches  peddlers,  itinerant  restauranters,  merchants, 
and  sewing-women  sit.     Above  each  gate  is  a  fine 


CHAMBER    OVER    THE   GATE.         259 

airy  room,  that  faces  both  ways,  and  overlooks  the 
sea  of  roofs.  The  breeze  that  we  never  feel  flut- 
ters the  bamboo  curtains  of  the  muUioned  win- 
dows ;  and  the  face  of  a  woman  of  wealth  peers 
downward,  and  watches  our  progress  with  amused 
wonder.  I  got  in  the  habit  of  looking  for  these 
"  Chambers  over  the  Gate,"  and  speculating  as  to 
their  occupants.  I  asked  Chue.  He  glanced  up  at 
some  red  signs  covered  with  gilt  Chinese  charac- 
ters that  stood  in  an  umbrella  stand  by  the  side  of 
the  window,  and  replied,  "  Velly  large  mandarin ; 
have  three-bar  flag." 

It  was  to  a  chamber  over  the  gate  that  David 
came  to  weep  for  Absalom.  I  understand  it  now. 
In  the  courts  and  rooms  of  David's  "yamen,"  he 
was  alone,  and  his  grief  ever  before  him.  Those 
that  came  to  him  put  on  the  long  face  that  is  sup- 
posed to  accompany  sympathy  —  all  knew  his  loss, 
and  all  took  pains  that  he  should  not  forget  it. 
He  went  to  the  chamber  over  the  gate  where  he 
could  see  the  workers,  the  merrymakers  —  the 
life  of  his  nation ;  where  he  could  watch  tourists 
from  Canton  and  Caii'o  and  Carthage,  struggling 
with  unaccustomed  sights  and  uncatalogued  smells 
below ;  where  he  could  smile,  then  laugh,  and  at 
last  forget  "  my  son  Absalom."  The  orientalism 
of  the  Bible  is  forced  upon  one  all  over  Asia. 


260      '  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

The  "  Chamber  over  the  Gate "  in  my  boyhood 
pictures  was  a  very  forbidding  kind  of  a  prison, 
and  the  story  of  the  "  Blind  leading  the  Blind  " 
a  most  questionable  undertaking.  In  Canton,  we 
were  continually  running  upon  lines  of  blind  beg- 
gars in  single  file,  from  the  narrowness  of  the 
streets,  each  with  one  hand  on  the  other's  shoul- 
ders, the  other  holding  a  long  slim  staff,  uniting 
in  a  kind  of  blind  lock-step.  A  lone  blind  beg- 
gar would  soon  be  knocked  down  and  run  over, 
and  it  was  easy  to  pass  him  by  without  giving 
alms;  but  six  women  made  a  procession  that 
merited  consideration,  whatever  your  intentions 
might  be. 

"  The  Blind  leading  the  Blind  !  "  how  it  brings 
up  bits  of  long-forgotten  sermons  in  the  old  white 
"  meetin'-house,"  and  the  lucid  explanation  of  the 
good  old  "  elder,"  who  had  about  as  much  idea  of 
the  real  significance  of  the  full  orientalism  of  the 
picture  as  the  thin  front  row  of  squirming  yoimg- 
sters  had  of  the  moral  of  his  lesson.  We  vaguely 
wondered  why  the  blind  didn't  go  arm  in  arm,  ten 
abreast  if  necessary :  no  one  would  ever  run  over 
them  in  the  dusty,  oak-shaded  streets  of  Whites- 
ville. 

The  "Money  Changers  in  the  Temple  !  "  Here 
they  were  in  Canton,  hundreds  of  them,  with  their 


BIBLICAL   ORIENTALISM.  261 

little  stands,  that  you  could  knock  over  with  your 
smallest  finger,  and  send  their  piles  of  copper-cash 
rolling  into  the  crowds  under  the  pedestals  of  the 
gods,  as  were  the  tables  upset  in  Jerusalem.  Not 
plate  glass  and  marble-countered  banks  demol- 
ished as  I  had  fondly  dreamed  on  that  front  row. 
So,  too,  the  well-known  picture  of  the  "  Last  Sup- 
per "  that  to-day  adorns  the  "  spare  "-room  walls 
of  so  many  country  homes  is  as  impossible  as  it 
is  absurd.  Tables  have  never  been  popular  for 
dining-purposes  in  Asia  Minor,  or  knives  and  forks 
in  common  use. 

I  never  tired  of  these  excursions  through  the 
century-old  life  of  this  typical  city  of  the  Chinese 
empire.  One  day  we  invaded  a  magistrate's  ya- 
men,  and  became  interested  spectators  of  the  trial 
of  four  miserable  coolies  for  piracy  and  murder. 
In  this  city  of  two  million  inhabitants,  there  are 
but  two  magistrate's  yamens,  and  they  only  hold 
court  in  the  afternoon,  a  condition  which  speaks 
well  for  the  general  behavior  of  the  people  among 
themselves.  There  is  nothing  imposing  in  a 
Chinese  court ;  and  the  description  of  one  is  a  de- 
scription of  all  of  those  to-day,  and  for  the  past 
thousand  years.  It  is  a  low,  one-storied  building 
with  grotesquely  carved  gates  under  a  red-tiled 
roof  that  is  surmounted  with  porcelain  dragons. 


262  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

The  gates,  however,  are  only  opened  for  an  official 
who  has  the  right  to  enter  the  presence  of  the 
magistrate  in  his  sedan  chair.  On  either  side  of 
the  big  doors  are  the  usual  small  ones  for  small 
people.  Once  through  them,  you  come  upon  an 
open  court  with  a  stagnant  pool  in  its  center,  or  a 
neglected  shrub.  On  either  side  of  this  court  are 
the  so-called  offices  of  the  yamen  runners,  four 
feet  by  six,  with  windows  of  oiled  paper.  Another 
pair  of  ponderous  wooden  gates,  carved  with  green 
and  blue  gods,  bars  your  entrance ;  but  there  are 
the  usual  side  portals  open. 

No  one  questions  you,  or  interferes  with  your 
progress;  although  you  have  a  feeling  that  you 
are  doing  a  bold  thing,  and  taking  your  life  in 
your  hand.  You  sooii.  find,  however,  that  you  are 
actually  approaching  a  court  of  justice  which  is,  as 
it  should  be,  open  to  all  the  world.  The  magis- 
trate's room  would  probably  seat  two  hundred 
people  if  chairs  were  provided ;  but  there  are  only 
three  of  these  articles  in  the  room,  and  they  stand 
behind  a  common  kitchen  table  covered  with 
turkey-red  calico,  a  yard  of  which  had  also  been 
thrown  over  each  of  the  chairs.  The  place  is  about 
as  cheerful  as  a  stable,  and  a  trifle  cleaner  than  a 
hen-coop.  On  the  walls  hang  an  array  of  whips, 
bamboo  rods,  iron  instruments  of  all  sorts,  chains, 


COURTS  AND   PRISONS.  263 

and  the  cangue.  There  are  no  pretenses  of  order 
or  decorum.  To  the  right  and  left,  facing  the 
table,  passages  lead  off  to  the  cells  where  the 
witnesses  and  the  prisoners  are  awaiting  trial,  all 
huddled  together  in  their  filth. 

Prisons  in  China  are  not  places  of  punishment, 
but  of  detention,  which  amounts  to  the  same  thing. 
They  are  hell-holes,  where  an  innocent  man  charged 
with  the  crime  of  alleged  disrespect  to  his  ances- 
tors is  squeezed  of  every  cash  before  he  can  get 
before  the  magistrate  for  trial.  Even  then,  on  the 
bare  suspicion  that  he  is  holding  a  bit  of  property 
back,  he  is  tortured  until '  in  sheer  physical 
anguish  he  is  glad  to  confess  to  a  crime  that 
he  never  committed. 

China  is  a  country  without  lawyers,  and  without 
juries.  So  in  theory  at  least,  it  is  not  necessary 
for  a  man  to  plead  pauperism  to  get  before  a 
court.  In  practice,  however,  the  yamen  is  filled 
with  a  species  of  lawyers  called  "  searchers,"  who 
aid  the  judge  to  find  "a  punishment  to  fit  the 
crime,"  by  citing  some  similar  case  in  the  court 
records  of  the  Sung  or  Ming  dynasties.  It  hardly 
need  be  said  that  in  a  list  of  decisions  covering 
two  thousand  years,  the  searchers,  if  well  paid  by 
the  defendant,  can  dig  up  a  precedent  which 
would  justify  the  magistrate  in  dismissing  the  case. 


264  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

In  the  rear  of  the  red-covered  table  were  the 
private  offices  of  the  officials  of  ttie  yamen. 
While  waiting,  we  had  settled  ourselves  comfort- 
ably in  the  straight-backed  magisterial  chairs,  and 
watched  the  rapidly  collecting  throng.  A  clerk 
placed  some  papers,  a  Chinese  pen,  and  a  pot  of 
red  and  black  India  ink  on  the  table.  There  was 
a  stir  about  the  door  that  led  to  the  cells,  then, 
marching  to  the  cheerful  accompaniment  of 
chains,  five  manacled  half-naked  coolies  were 
driven  into  the  center  of  the  court,  and  made  to 
kneel  before  the  table  with  their  foreheads  on  the 
floor.  There  they  remained  until  the  magistrate 
entered  quietly  the  stage  door  on  the  right,  and 
spoke  to  them,  ^o  oath  was  administered ;  for 
perjury  is  not  a  crime  in  China,  as  it  is  taken  for 
granted  that  every  man  will  lie  as  long  as  it  will 
benefit  him.  The  prisoners  answered  as  they 
knelt,  and  in  spite  of  their  gaunt,  haggard  appear- 
ance, seemed  to  be  quite  cheerful  under  the  cross- 
examination.  They  were  charged  with  having,  in 
company  with  others,  robbed  a  junk  up  the  West 
River,  and  of  having  beaten  to  death  a  native  cus- 
toms' watcher  who  in  a  weak  moment  had  tried  to 
make  them  divide  their  booty  with  him.  There 
was  no  order  in  the  court ;  and  the  spectators,  as 
did  we  ourselves,  crowded  upon  the  prisoners,  stood 


DETECTING   OLD   OFFENDERS.      265 

behind  the  judge,  or  took  any  place  of  vantage  we 
chose.  After  a  few  questions,  the  magistrate,  who 
carried  on  his  quiet  fire  of  questions  as  though 
there  was  no  one  within  a  hundred  miles,  arose, 
and  passed  around  to  the  front  of  the  table.  The 
prisoners  evidently  understood  the  situation,  as 
one  after  the  other  calmly  held  up  the  palms  of 
his  hands.  The  magistrate  examined  them  criti- 
cally, and  said  a  few  words  to  the  clerk,  who  im- 
mediately entered  them  on  the  records  of  the 
court.  Our  conjecture  was,  "  He  is  a  palmist, 
and  is  reading  their  character ; "  but  when  he 
ordered  his  runners  to  raise  their  shirts  so  that  he 
might  examine  their  backs,  his  actions  became  per- 
fectly clear  and  reasonable  ;  he  was  looking  for  the 
marks  of  the  bamboo.  It  simplified  matters  greatly 
to  know  whether  they  were  old  offenders  or  not. 

The  jailer  and  executioner  stood  over  them, 
evidently  impatiently  waiting  for  the  word  to 
apply  the  bamboo,  in  order  to  freshen  their  mem- 
ories or  hasten  their  confession.  He  was  a  per- 
fect stage  villain,  with  an  enormous  nose,  which 
hung  down  to  his  chin  like  a  great  pear.  He 
was  proud  of  the  muscles  of  his  arms,  and  kept 
shoving  back  his  loose  sleeves.  A  few  weeks  be- 
fore one  of  our  party  had  seen  him  behead  nine 
men  without  missing  a  stroke  on  any  one  of  them. 


266  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

The  magistrate  seemed  a  trifle  nervous  at  our 
presence,  although  we  tried  to  impress  him  with 
the  idea  that  we  were  merely  globe-trotters.  1 
heard  one  of  his  clerks  whisper  to  him  our  names ; 
and  shortly  after  the  case  was  remanded,  and  the 
magistrate  took  French  leave  of  the  court.  The 
Chinese  are  becoming  sensitive  of  the  criticism  of 
the  foreign  devils.  We  possibly  saved  the  cul- 
prits for  the  time  from  a  bambooing,  or  possibly 
being  strung  up  by  the  thumbs,  but  we  certainly 
did  consign  them  for  another  week  to  the  living 
death  of  a  Chinese  prison. 

We  met  a  man  in  one  of  the  narrow  streets 
wearing  a  stock,  or  cangue,  on  each  side  of  which 
were  pasted  printed  notices  informing  all  the 
world  that  he  was  a  thief,  and  had  been  caught  in 
ihe  act.  One  hand  was  tied  behind  him ;  and  in 
the  other  he  held  a  bell,  which  he  rang  contmu- 
ously  to  attract  attention  to  himself.  A  policeman 
followed,  who  from  time  to  time  beat  him  with  a 
bamboo.  If  some  of  our  high-toned  bank  wreck- 
ers were  driven  up  and  down  Wall  Street  in  this 
fashion,  at  least  one  style  of  crime  would  become 
unpopular. 

It  was  some  time  before  I  ventured  into  the 
studio  of  a  portrait  painter.  I  had  learned  to 
credit  the   Chinese  with  great  imitative  skill  in 


THE  CANGUE :  A  FORM  OF  CHINESE  PUNISHMENT. 

"  It  is  the  absence  of  nerves  that  enables  the  Chinese  to  endure  pain  as  well  as  toil.'' 


IMITATIVE  SKILL.  267 

many  ways.  They  could  take  a  suit  of  my  best 
home-made  clothes,  and  copy  it  exactly  for  one- 
tenth  of  what  I  had  paid  for  the  originr.1,  and  at 
the  same  time  use  the  best  English  and  Scotch 
material,  but  I  did  not  expect  much  from  them  in 
a  purely  artistic  line.  I  was  not  impressed  with 
their  attempts  to  paint  from  living  sitters.  The 
result  was  too  much  like  "  the  old  Masters ; "  but 
their  copying  in  oil,  engravings  and  photographs, 
on  ivory  were  well  done.  The  portrait  of  George 
Washington  which  they  did  for  me  from  an  old  yel- 
low frontispiece  in  the  "  Constitution  of  the  United 
States "  would  have  done  Trumbull  or  Stuart 
credit.  It  was  four  feet  by  three,  and  the  charge 
was  three  dollars  gold.  There  was  no  excuse  for 
being  over  critical  at  that  price ;  and  then  I  "  skied 
it,"  so  that  it  showed  up  at  least  three  hundred 
dollars'  worth. 

The  Chinese  artist  belongs  strictly  to  the 
"  Purist  School."  He  believes  in  detail,  and 
maintains  that  the  value  of  his  painting  lies  in 
the  fact  that  it  shows  things  as  they  are ;  he 
leaves  nothing  to  the  imagination.  In  the  picture 
Yee  Cheong  did  for  me  of  the  city  and  island  of 
Hong  Kong,  painted  presumably  from  a  boat  in 
the  harbor,  he  insisted  on  marking  in  the  zigzag  line 
of  the  tramway  that  runs  to  the  peak.     I  pointed 


268  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR, 

out  to  Yee  Cheong,  who  reminded  me  of  the  dean 
of  the  art  department  of  my  Alma  Mater,  that 
from  his  presumptive  view  point  it  was  impos- 
sible to  see  the  tram-car  line,  and  that  from  no 
point  in  Hong  Kong  was  it  possible  to  see  its 
entire  course.     He  was  imperturbable. 

"  Picture  no  belong  Hong  Kong  side,  spose  no 
got  tram-car,"  he  declared.  "  Spose  you  take 
picture  Melican  side.  Melican  man  say  Yee 
Cheong  no  savvy  pidgin." 

I  continued  the  discussion.  I  complimented 
the  painting,  which  was  good,  and  I  felt  I  had 
convinced  him. 

"  Can  do,"  he  asserted.  "  Spose  you  no  wanchee 
tram-car,  my  no  putty,  Yee  Cheong  no  putty  he 
chop  picture.     Maskee." 

So  the  discussion  ended.  Yee  filled  in  the 
mist-colored  mountains  as  I  ordered,  faint  and 
indistinct,  etched  here  and  there  with  higher 
lights  or  deeper  shadows,  just  as  I  had  seen 
it  from  day  to  day  in  all  its  changeableness. 
There  was  no  white  line  zigzagging  up  its  side, 
marking  the  course  of  the  little  railway  of  which 
Englishmen  and  Chinamen  are  both  so  proud ; 
but  "  Maskee ! "  Yee  Cheong  did  not  honor  the 
canvas  with  his  name. 

"  Maskee  "  expressed  Yee  Cheong's  opinion  of 


"MASKEEr  269 

my  stubbornness.  I  was  an  outer  barbarian, 
"  Maskee  "  —  never  mind.  "  I  don't  care,  let  it 
pass,"  and  the  subject  was  dismissed.  Maskee 
expresses  a  volume.  It  is  the  refuge  of  the  China- 
man. It  closes  and  begins  conversation,  or  it  is 
an  entire  conversation  in  itself. 


270  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 


XIII. 

PEKING,   THE  CAPITAL   CITT. 

[This  chapter  on  Peking  was  written,  at  Mr.  Wildnian's  request,  by 
the  Hon.  Charles  Denby,  for  years  resident  in  Peliing,  and  minister  of 
the  United  States  at  the  court  of  the  Emperor  of  China.] 

A  DISTINGUISHED  divine,  who  had  lived 
many  years  in  China,  once  told  me  that 
on  a  visit  to  New  York  he  was  requested 
to  deliver  a  lecture  on  Chinese  subjects.  He  ac- 
cordingly prepared  an  elaborate  discourse,  and  was 
very  much  surprised  to  find  that  the  most  of  his 
audience  left,  and  those  who  remained  seemed  to 
be  exceedingly  bored.  After  a  little  while  he  was 
again  invited  to  lecture.  That  time  he  did  not 
write  a  Hue  nor  make  the  least  preparation.  He 
got  on  his  feet,  and  he  told  exactly  what  he  per- 
sonally knew,  without  ornament  or  effort.  The 
life  he  had  led,  the  people  he  had  met,  the  scenes 
in  which  he  had  taken  part,  were  described,  and 
the  audience  was  delighted.  He  had  an  ovation. 
On  the  few  occasions  that  it  has  fallen  to  my 


LIFE  IN  PEKING.  271 

lot  to  speak  of  China,  I  have  profited  by  this  ex- 
perience with  good  results  ;  and  if  my  readers  will 
pardon  me,  there  will  be  in  this  chapter  no  pecu- 
liar diplomatic  disquisition,  but  simply  an  account 
of  Peking  as  it  was  from  1885  to  1898. 

It  may  be  well  to  preserve  the  flavor  of  a 
description  which,  possibly,  no  new  man  may  here- 
after be  able  to  write.  The  old  charming  dehon- 
naire  life,  the  country  hfe  in  a  city  of  a  million 
people,  the  friendliness  of  Prince  Kung,  uncle  of 
the  emperor,  and  Prince  Ching,  cousin  of  the  em- 
peror, and  of  Li  Hung  Chang,  and,  possibly,  the 
scholarly  companionship  of  Sir  Robert  Hart,  will 
never  be  resumed.  Prince  Kung,  for  many  years 
head  of  the  Tsung  li  Yamen,  or  foreign  office,  is 
dead.  The  gallant,  the  genial,  the  unassuming 
Prince  Ching  was  reported  as  badly  wounded  while 
defending  the  beleaguered  foreigners  of  the  lega- 
tions. Sir  Robert  Hart,  the  scholar,  the  benefactor 
of  China,  the  son  of  the  Irish  miller,  whose  an- 
cestors were  ennobled  for  three  generations,  was 
among  those  reported  dead  ;  wliile  Li  Hung  Chang 
is  in  the  sere  and  yellow  leaf,  seventy-eight  years 
old,  decrepit,  and  distrusted  by  the  foreigner  as 
well  as  the  native.  The  empress,  too,  with  a  name 
so  long  that  I  can  hardly  write  it,  Tszehi  Toanyu 
Kangi    Chaoyu  Chuangcheng  Shokung    Chinhien 


272  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

Chungsih,  has  changed  her  nature.  From  1861 
to  1889  she  ruled  China  strongly  but  kindly;  and 
beneath  her  sway  a  fair  degree  of  peace  and  quiet- 
ness prevailed  all  over  the  empire,  and  particularly 
at  Peking.  What  may  happen  now  lies  beyond 
human  ken ;  but  the  life  I  am  going  to  picture 
will,  in  all  probability,  not  recur  again. 

In  1885,  in  September,  we  went  up  the  muddy 
Peiho  from  Tientsin  to  Tungchow  in  a  house-boat 
drawn  by  men.  Many  a  mile  we  walked  along 
the  tow-path  through  the  flat  fields  from  which 
the  crops  had  been  gathered.  The  river  wound 
about  like  a  ram's  horn,  and  we  could  beat  the 
boat  for  hours.  We  passed  by  great  fleets  of 
cargo-boats,  bearing  the  tribute  rice  to  Peking, 
which  often  were  tied  to  the  banks,  which  were 
crowded  with  the  boatmen  and  their  women  and 
children.  I  am  reminded  that  we  saw  a  curious 
thing.  Men  were  drawing  water  from  the  river, 
and  pouring  it  over  the  rice  in  the  holds  of  the 
boats.  I  asked  what  in  the  world  that  process 
meant ;  and  I  was  told  that  it  was  done  to  make 
the  rice  weigh  more  than  it  would  if  it  were  dry, 
so  as  to  get  more  pay  for  the  transportation. 
Thus  early  I  was  initiated  into  the  mystery  of 
"  China  as  she  is." 

At   Tungchow,  a   hundred  and   twenty   miles 


JPPROACHIHG  PEKING.  273 

up,  and  fourteen  miles  from  Peking,  we  were 
met  by  chairs  and  ponies,  and  started  for  the 
capital.  Between  Tungchow  and  Peking  there 
is  a  stone  road.  It  was  paved  at  some  remote 
period  with  heavy  blocks  of  stone,  but  very  many 
of  them  have  sunk  out  of  sight.  The  mind  of 
man  cannot  conceive  the  torture  of  riding  over 
that  road  in  a  springless  cart.  I  did  it  once, 
and  I  have  not  feared  purgatory  any  more. 

On  this  occasion  we  traveled  over  a  country 
road  parallel  with  the  stone  road.  I  call  it  a  road 
by  courtesy,  but  the  roads  in  China  are  mere 
tracks  made  by  the  wear  of  centuries.  As  we 
were  in  chairs  borne  by  men,  of  course  we  were 
net  incommoded  by  roughness  or  inequalities. 
By  degrees  it  became  apparent  that  we  were 
approaching  a  great  city.  There  were  files  of 
donkeys  bearing  fat  Chinamen;  wheelbarrows 
with  passengers  balancing  themselves  on  either 
side  ;  great  wagons  with  teams  of  three,  four,  six, 
seven  horses,  hitched  in  the  most  curious  manner, 
some  by  ropes  tied  around  the  axles.  Occasion- 
ally there  would  be  a  mule,  a  horse,  and  a  donkey 
inscrutably  hitched  together,  but  all  doing  their 
work.  There  were  bearers,  too,  carrying  enor- 
mous burdens,  sometimes  alone,  and  sometimes  a 
dozen  bearing  one  load.     There  were  mule-litters. 


274  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

one  mule  in  the  shafts  in  front,  and  one  behind ; 
and  there  were  almost  innumerable  strings  of 
camels  plodding  slowly  along,  each  camel  attached 
to  the  one  before  him  by  a  string  through  his 
nose,  while  on  the  head  one  the  driver  slept  as 
happily  as  he  would  have  done  in  a  bed.  Usually 
there  is  one  driver  for  six  camels.  Mounted  cav- 
ahers  there  were  too,  some  on  high-paced  ambling 
mules,  others  on  rough  MongoUan  ponies,  many 
wearing  official  hats  made  of  straw  and  garnished 
with  red  horsehair. 

Little  attention  was  paid  by  these  underlings 
to  the  foreigner  as  they  passed  him.  And  so 
we  went  on  feeling  each  moment  that  we  were 
nearing  the  quaint  city  which  was  to  be  our  home 
for  thirteen  years.  Close  to  the  bank  of  the 
grand  canal,  looking  at  the  great  barges  which 
convey  merchandise  between  the  locks  —  there 
being  a  separate  fleet  for  each  reach,  because  boats 
are  not  let  down  from  one  level  to  another  — 
finally  we  came  in  view  of  the  walls  surrounding 
the  city.  It  was  the  beautiful,  splendid  autumn 
of  North  China.  The  rain  had  quit  falling  in 
August ;  there  would  be  no  more  until  the  follow- 
ing July.  It  was  delightful  to  breathe  the  pure, 
invigorating  air,  and  every  object  was  distinct 
and  clear. 


UP    THE  PEIHO.  •    275 

The  first  sight  of  the  city  wall  is  absorbing  by 
its  strangeness  and  its  evident  antiquity.  One 
has  to  remember  that  the  wall  is  more  than  three 
hundred  years  old,  that  it  was  not  intended  to 
resist  artillery,  but  was  meant  to  keep  out  the 
raiders  who  harried  the  Chinese.  On  the  outer 
side  of  the  wall  one  notices  towers  here  and  there, 
which  are  locations  for  sentries.  These  towers 
extend  from  Peking  to  the  Great  Wall  of  China, 
and  when  the  enemy  came  his  presence  was 
heralded  to  the  capital  by  burning  wolf's  dung  on 
the  top  of  these  towers.  As  the  stranger  sees  the 
wall  for  the  first  time,  there  is  a  weird  beauty 
about  it  that  comes  from  its  height,  and  strength, 
and  its  antique  gracefulness.  The  crenelated 
parapets,  the  bastions  succeedmg  each  other  along 
its  whole  length,  its  gates,  two-storied,  with  em- 
brasures and  wooden  cannon,  the  encientes  around 
the  gates,  are  all  novel,  and  somehow  all  fit  in 
with  the  half-naked  donkey  drivers,  the  quaintly 
dressed  riders,  and  the  camels. 

There  are  two  cities  at  Peking,  the  Tartar  and 
the  Chinese.  The  Chinese  city  is  south  of  its 
more  pretentious  neighbor,  and  its  northern  wall 
is  for  a  considerable  space  the  southern  wall  of 
the  imperial  city.  The  wall  around  the  Manchu 
city  is  fifty  feet  high,  forty  feet  wide  at  the  top, 


276  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

and  sixty  at  the  bottom.  It  is  riveted  with 
heavy  bricks  set  in  cement,  which  is  now  as  hard 
as  stone,  and  the  interior  is  of  earth.  The  wall 
around  the  Chinese  city  is  thirty  feet  high,  twenty- 
five  feet  thick  at  the  bottom,  and  fifteen  at  the 
top.  The  whole  circumference  is  about  twenty- 
five  miles,  of  which  sixteen  are  around  the  Tartar 
city.  This  wall  is,  or  was,  a  godsend  to  the 
foreigner.  No  Chinese  was  allowed  to  go  upon 
it;  but  the  foreigner,  by  paying  a  small  fee,  could 
walk  up  an  esplanade,  and  go  entirely  around  if 
he  pleased.  Sometimes  parties  were  made  up  to 
drink  tea  on  the  wall,  and  many  a  pleasant  after- 
noon has  been  spent  there.  Along  the  sides  grow 
trees  of  considerable  size ;  and  the  walk  on  top  is 
invaded  by  small  bushes,  its  use  by  the  foreigners 
not  being  sufficient  to  keep  down  the  vegetation. 
One  passes  through  a  gate  in  the  Chinese  city, 
travels  along  a  road  under  the  wall  for  a  mile,  and 
enters  one  of  the  great  nine  gates  which  give  en- 
trance to  the  Tartar  city.  Under  the  archway  the 
tide  of  travel  has  flowed  until  deep  ruts  are  worn 
in  the  stone  pavement.  A  great  street  stretches 
out  before  us,  the  principal  business  street — the 
Hattamen  street  as  the  foreigners  call  it,  because 
the  gate  is  named  Hattamen.  All  the  gates  are 
closed  at  nightfall,  and  thereafter  until  morning 


THE  FENG-SUI.  277 

are  opened  only  once,  at  three  o'clock,  for  the  high 
officials  to  enter.  It  was  on  the  Hattamen  that 
Baron  Ketteler  was  murdered.  The  houses  are 
of  one  story,  copying  the  Tartar  tent,  and  the 
signs  on  the  streets  hang  perpendicularly.  No 
two  houses  are  on  the  same  hne.  One  always 
projects  farther  out,  or  is  set  farther  in  than  its 
neighbor.  The  object  of  this  is  to  deflect  the 
bad  spirits,  who  are  not  able  to  turn  a  corner. 
For  this  reason  little  clay  dogs  are  put  on  the 
ridges  of  the  houses, —  sometimes  a  dozen  of  them 
in  single  file, — which  drive  away  or  catch  the  bad 
spirits.  Feng-sui  —  literally  wind  and  water,  a 
geomantic  principle  —  cuts  a  great  figure  in  China, 
and  no  man  builds  a  house  without  making  sure  of 
compliance  with  its  dictates.  When  foreigners 
have  sometimes  disregarded  the  Feng-sui,  riots 
resulted. 

In  ancient  times  there  was  a  sewerage  system, 
traces  of  which  are  visible  ;  but  it  has  long  since 
gone  to  decay,  and  now  the  sides  of  the  streets  are 
receptacles  for  all  species  of  offal.  It  is  curious 
that  the  scions  of  the  politest  nation  in  the 
world  use  the  streets  —  the  sidewalks  if  there 
are  any  —  for  the  basest  and  commonest  purposes. 
Slush  is  dipped  from  the  cesspools,  and  thrown 
on  the  streets   to  keep  down  the  dust ;  and  the 


278  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

alkali  so  generated  is  offensive  both  to  eyes  and 
nose.  After  going  a  few  steps  on  the  street 
of  the  Hattamen,  one  comes  to  Legation  Street,  as 
the  foreigners  call  it,  but  which  the  Chinese  name 
"  the  Street  of  the  Subject  Nations." 

One  great  and  unfortunate  difference  is  to  be 
noted  between  Peking  and  the  ports  at  which 
foreigners  have  concessions.  At  the  ports,  such 
as  Shanghai,  Hankow,  Shameen,  and  other  places, 
tracts  of  land  have  been  set  apart  for  the  foreigners, 
and  on  these  elegant  cities  have  grown  up.  There 
are  few  handsomer  cities  than  the  foreign  city  of 
Shanghai.  Tientsin  is  a  channing  place,  with  its 
public  gardens,  its  town  hall,  recreation  ground, 
electric  light,  gas,  water-works,  improved  streets, 
and  a  bund  on  the  river.  Shameen  is  on  an  island 
in  the  Pearl  River,  and  is  as  pretty  a  spot  as  one 
ever  saw.  In  these  concessions  the  foreigners  live, 
each  one  omng  allegiance  to  his  own  country,  and 
responsible  to  her  laws  civilly  and  criminally ;  but 
as  municipalities  the  towns  are  the  most  perfect 
specimens  of  republics  that  exist  in  the  world. 
They  embody  exactly  the  principles  of  squatter 
sovereignty,  except  that  the  formality  must  be 
complied  with  of  having  the  municipal  regulations 
approved  by  the  ministers  of  the  treaty  powers. 
China  has  absolutely  no  control  over  these  con- 


THE  LEGATIONS.  279 

cessions.  Her  legal  writs  do  not  run  in  their 
limits.  The  senior  consul  must  countersign  all 
warrants.  An  offender  against  law  must  be  tried 
by  his  own  consul.  In  Shanghai  the  power  of 
China  to  arrest  Japanese  accused  of  being  spies 
was  gravely  contested. 

These  little  cities  and  towns  are  imperiums  in 
imperio  —  they  are  oases  in  the  vast  desert  of 
Oriental  surroundings.  In  them  the  elegances  of 
life  prevail.  There  are  hotels,  banks,  theaters, 
clubs,  —  all  the  paraphernalia  with  which  the 
Westerner  surrounds  himself  to  procure  some 
consolation  for  his  exile.  Nowhere  in  the  world 
more  than  in  the  far  East  is  the  pursuit  of 
recreation  so  strenuously  followed.  The  best 
rider,  the  champion  golf-player,  the  expert  rower, 
are  heroes.  To  own  a  stud  of  ponies  for  the 
races  is  a  patent  of  nobility,  and  to  be  the  pos- 
sessor of  a  house-boat  is  an  honorable  distinction. 
These  places  remind  the  American  of  the  old 
life  in  the  South  during  the  existence  of  slavery. 
An  overflow  of  willing  servants,  a  superabun- 
dance of  riding-horses,  chairs  for  every  guest, 
hospitality  without  limit,  characterize  all  the 
localities  occupied  by  the  foreigner.  I  have  not 
space  here  to  describe  the  kindness,  the  good 
feeling,   the   hearty  welcome,    which   attend   the 


280  CHINA'S   OPEN  BOOR. 

coming  of  a  guest.  All  the  charming  entertain- 
ment that  refinement,  courtesy,  and  elegance  can 
provide  is  lavished  on  the  stranger. 

But  in  Peking  there  is  no  concession.  It  is 
curious  that  the  allies,  when  they  took  Peking, 
did  not  seize  a  portion  of  the  city  for  the  use  of 
the  legations.  It  could  easily  have  been  done 
without  harm  to  anybody.  There  are  many  spots 
in  Peking  well  suited  to  the  establishment  of  a 
foreign  city.  If  this  plan  had  been  pursued, 
there  would  have  been  long  ago  at  Peking  an 
elegant  quarter  where  a  beautiful  object  lesson 
would  have  been  displayed  to  the  Chinese.  A 
minor  Paris,  Berlin,  or  Washington  would  have 
furnished  a  charming,  and  possibly  a  safe,  resi- 
dence for  the  foreigner.  As  it  is,  the  legation 
houses  are  set  down  in  the  midst  of  the  native 
dwellings.  Adjoining  my  legation  was  a  shop 
where  straw  was  kept  for  sale,  and  the  stacks 
were  higher  than  our  houses ;  and  when  they 
caught  fire,  it  required  many  hours'  work  to  pre- 
vent our  buildings  from  being  burned  up.  The 
yamen  promised  me  to  require  this  man  to  lower 
his  stacks,  but  when  I  saw  them  last  they  were 
nearly  as  high  as  ever.  One  hundred  feet  from 
my  legation,  a  butcher  slaughtered  a  dozen  sheep 
a  day  in  the  street.     We  had  to  make  a  circuit 


MISUSE    OF    THE   STREETS.  281 

to  the  middle  of  the  street  to  avoid  treading  on 
the  carcasses. 

While  China  is  the  most  autocratic  country  in 
the  world,  it  is  at  the  same  time  the  most  demo- 
cratic. Through  its  length  and  breadth  the  people 
rule.  They  do  not  hesitate  to  drag  a  magistrate 
from  his  seat,  and  cuff  and  beat  him;  and  when 
there  is  a  drouth  the  gods  are  put  out  in  the  sun 
to  let  them  see  how  they  enjoy  it,  and  when  it 
rains  too  long  the  same  gods  are  lashed  with 
whips  in  order  to  secure  dry  weather. 

So  at  Peking  everybody  uses  the  space  in  front 
of  his  store  or  dwelling  as  he  pleases,  without  the 
slightest  regard  to  the  comfort  of  the  general  pub- 
lic. Great  logs  of  wood  are  sawed  on  the  streets. 
Booths  are  erected  occupying  half  the  width  of 
some  of  the  streets.  Temporary  houses  are  put 
up  for  funerals.  All  kinds  of  peddlers  occupy 
every  coign  of  vantage.  The  barber  plies  his  trade 
wherever  he  can  find  a  place  to  set  down  the  box  he 
carries,  and  on  which  his  customer  sits.  The  tables 
of  the  tea-shops  take  up  all  the  sidewalk.  The 
streets  are  public  latrines,  and  the  slops  are  all 
emptied  into  them.  The  walls  are  besmeared  with 
filthy  advertisements.  Here  and  there  localities 
are  used  for  spreading  out  and  drying  manure. 
There  was  a  notable  one  of  these  places  nearly 


282  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

behind  the  German  legation  which  poisoned  the 
air  for  blocks  around.  Herr  Von  Brandt,  the 
German  minister,  strongly  attacked  this  nuisance. 
He  received  many  promises,  but  the  pile  remains 
there  yet.  The  chief  use  of  the  space  outside  of 
the  city  wall  is  to  dry  manure.  When  one  com- 
plains of  the  horrid  sights  which  are  perennially 
in  view,  one  is  told  that  it  is  "  old  "  Chinese  cus- 
tom. I  am  afraid  to  say  that  Peking  is  the  dirtiest 
city  in  the  world,  because  there  is  Constantinople; 
but  my  opinion  is  that  Peking  is  the  filthiest  of 
the  world's  cities.  In  the  street  exactly  in  front 
of  Li  Hung  Chang's  quarters  there  was  a  great 
cesspool  into  which  all  the  offal  of  his  large  house- 
hold was  emptied  every  day. 

Peking  everywhere  gives  signs  of  decay.  The 
great  Boards  where  the  public  business  is  done 
resemble  the  stable-yards  of  a  country  inn.  The 
streets  are  unpaved  and  rarely  worked.  Before 
the  emperor  goes  out  on  the  street  a  thin  cover- 
ing of  yellow  dirt  is  deposited  on  it,  and  this 
is  all  the  work  that  is  done.  In  the  center  of  the 
broad  streets — and  there  are  many  broad  streets 
in  Peking — there  is  a  raised  embankment  of 
earth,  on  which,  during  the  heavy  rains,  the  carts 
travel.  When  the  deluge  comes  in  July  the  city 
is  a  vast  lake.     Tradition  tells  of  several  people 


PEKING  SOCIETT.  283 

who  have  been  drowned  in  the  streets  by  the  over- 
turning of  carts.  Around  Sir  Robert  Hart's  fine 
place  there  comes  in  the  wet  season  a  vast  lake 
which  submerges  streets  and  yards.  One  summer 
Sir  Robert  picked  up  in  his  grounds  four  fish  half 
a  foot  long.  It  is  a  marvel  where  they  came  from. 
In  these  days  the  otherwise  endless  rounds  of  din- 
ners ceases.  Locomotion  becomes  practically  im- 
possible. 

Peking  society  is  composed  of  the  members  of 
the  diplomatic  corps,  of  the  imperial  maritime 
customs,  and  of  the  few  other  foreigners,  such  as 
the  bankers,  who  reside  in  the  city.  To  these 
must  be  added  the  professors  of  the  Tungwan  or 
Imperial  College. 

By  an  ingenious  fiction  the  members  of  the 
diplomatic  body  constitute  one  family.  It  must 
be  said  that,  in  general,  perfect  harmony  has  pre- 
vailed in  Peking.  During  a  few  years,  recently, 
international  rivalry  to  secure  concessions  and 
the  seizures  of  the  territory  of  China  have  pro- 
duced some  friction  in  social  circles  ;  but  during 
my  stay  no  body  of  people  was  ever  more  har- 
monious than  were  we.  There  was  boundless 
hospitality,  absolute  equality,  and  a  graceful  cos- 
mopolitan refinement.  Every  man's  position  and 
his  income  were  known.     His  place  was  fixed  as 


284  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

by  the  laws  of  the  Medes  and  Persians.  Every 
minister  ranked  according  to  his  arrival  at  Peking ; 
the  oldest  in  time  was  the  dean.  The  ladies  took 
rank  according  to  that  of  their  husbands.  On 
very  rare  occasions  you  might  place  a  colleague  at 
table  below  his  proper  seat,  but  etiquette  required 
that  you  should  secure  his  consent.  There  was 
once  nearly  a  duel  because  a  secretary  was  put 
below  an  interpreter.  The  secretary  was  ordered 
to  Hayti  to  avoid  bloodshed.  Before  my  time  a 
minister  left  the  table  because  an  inferior  was 
placed  above  hira.  I  vainly  tried  on  one  occasion 
to  induce  one  of  my  colleagues  to  put  an  American 
senator's  wife  above  the  doyenne,  who  was  also 
an  American.  He  said  the  rules  must  be  com- 
plied with,  the  doyenne  must  have  the  first  place. 
After  all  that  may  be  said,  this  etiquette  is  a  neces- 
sity where  the  people  of  a  dozen  nationalities 
meet  together.  How  else  could  the  complex 
questions  of  social  intercourse  be  settled  ? 

Apart,  however,  from  formal  occasions,  it  must 
be  said  that  no  attention  was  paid  to  personal  rank. 
The  princes,  the  counts,  the  barons  and  baronets, 
—  of  whom  there  were  many,  —  were  simple 
human  entities  in  the  merry  round  of  picnics, 
balls,  races,  tennis,  theatricals,  which  succeed  each 
other  continuously  at  Peking.     I  remember  that 


ETIQUETTE  OF  THE  LEGATIONS    285 

one  evening  at  the  British  legation  I  saw  poor 
Baron  Ketteler  —  who  was  recently  killed  —  ac- 
coutred like  a  strong  man,  lift  up  with  great  exer- 
tion two  big  weights  marked  five  thousand  pounds 
apiece ;  and  a  little  while  later  the  son  of  the  Brit- 
ish minister  picked  them  both  up,  and  carried  them 
in  one  hand  off  the  stage.  With  such  fooleries, 
but  also  with  much  fine  music  and  many  charming 
vaudevilles,  the  time  of  the  winters  was  passed. 

Absolute  freedom  of  intercourse  exists  among  the 
legation  people.  You  can  drop  in  on  a  colleague 
at  all  hours.  The  ladies  are  intimate  and  friendly. 
Cut  off  from  the  world  as  we  were  from  the 
middle  of  December  to  the  middle  of  March,  it 
was  a  test  of  good-fellowship  to  do  something  for 
the  general  entertainment.  There  was  the  club 
with  a  membership  of  forty,  which  changed  every 
year.  Of  course  there  was  a  bar-room,  a  billiard- 
room,  a  tennis-court,  a  reading-room,  and  library. 
Here  whist  reigned  in  the  early  hours,  sometimes 
to  be  superseded  by  poker  later.  At  the  whist- 
table  the  youngest  British  student  was  the  equal 
of  the  oldest  diplomat  if  he  played  as  good  a 
game.  The  wife  of  a  Russian  prince  danced  with 
a  newly  arrived  recruit  of  the  imperial  maritime 
customs.  Let  it  be  said  here  that  Sir  Robert 
Hart  selected  the  members  of  the  indoor  staff  of 


286  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

the  customs  with  great  care.  They  were  mostly 
graduates  of  colleges,  and  some  of  them  bore  the 
most  distinguished  names  in  Europe.  In  the 
general  they  were  accomplished  young  gentlemen, 
who  spoke  all  languages,  and  played  all  musical 
instruments.  They  were  absolutely  equals  in 
society  of  the  secretaries  and  attaches,  except,  of 
course,  at  formal  dinners.  I  wonder  if  in  the 
cataclysm  of  China  this  fine  institution  is  to  go 
down. 

Twice  a  year  there  were  two  days  racing  four 
miles  from  Peking.  These  were  gala  days  for  na- 
tives as  well  as  for  foreigners.  The  members  of 
the  Tsung  li  Yamen  came  themselves,  or  sent  their 
secretaries.  For  miles  around  countless  hordes  of 
Chinese  came  and  surrounded  the  track.  There 
were  none  but  gentleman  riders.  '  Several  weeks 
were  spent  in  training,  and  all  the  temples  around 
the  track  were  utilized  as  lodges.  This  prelimi- 
nary exercise,  and  the  cessation  from  alcohohc 
drinks  and  high  living  made  necessary  by  it,  were 
the  best  part  of  the  performances.  On  these  oc- 
casions there  was  a  tiffin  each  day,  on  which  there 
was  toasting,  and  speaking,  and  unlimited  fun.  At 
the  track  there  was  no  rank.  The  stewards  ranked 
the  ministers,  and  set  the  pace  for  the  hilarity. 
Imagine  now  if  you  can  that  the  countless  Chinese 


GALA  DATS.  287 

who  came  to  see  the  races,  and  wrangled  and  bet, 
and  enjoyed  their  own  games  and  refreshments, 
and  were  as  friendly  as  could  be,  have  burned  the 
grand  stand,  and  destroyed  the  stables,  and  ruined 
the  track !  At  the  last  there  was  always  a 
race  in  which  the  mafoos — hostlers — were  the 
riders.  They  selected  the  best  horses  their  masters 
had,  and  they  rode  like  monkeys.  Each  horse  knew 
his  rider  because  he  had  trained  him,  and  horse  and 
man  did  their  best  to  win  the  prize  of  silver  dol- 
lars. From  the  on-looking  myriads  of  Chinese, 
vociferous  acclamations  hailed  the  winner  in  the 
race. 

The  life  in  Peking  was  not,  however,  all  sport, 
though  no  doubt  it  predominated.  There  were 
serious  societies,  devised  for  sober  and  scholarly 
people.  The  missionaries  had  monthly  meetings 
of  a  literary  society,  at  which  papers  were  read 
on  many  interesting  subjects,  and  discussion  fol- 
lowed. When  such  men  as  Doctors  Martin,  Blod- 
gett,  Owen,  Sheffield,  Lowry,  Goodrich,  and  many 
others  rose  to  elucidate  some  historical  or  eco- 
nomic question  the  hearer  was  well  repaid  for  the 
listening.  These  gentlemen  knew  China  as  they 
knew  their  Bible,  by  heart.  They  had  passed 
twenty,  thirty,  forty,  fifty  years  in  the  study  of  its 
language  and   history.     Intercourse  with  men  of 


288  CHINA'S   OPEN  BOOR. 

all  nationalities  had  made  them  broad  and  lib- 
eral, while  study  and  the  tuition  of  others  had 
sharpened  their  naturally  fine  intellects.  As  writ^ 
ers  of  books,  as  teachers,  as  missionaries,  these 
people  will  rank  in  the  forefront  of  the  benefactors 
of  the  human  race.  Alas  —  is  this  class  to  die 
out?  Are  the  sweetness,  the  gentleness,  the  self- 
sacrificing  spirit  of  the  missionary,  and  his  learn- 
ing, to  be  lost  to  the  world? 

Besides  the  Missionary  Society  was  the  Asiatic 
Society,  which  was  opened  to  the  scholars  of 
all  nations.  Here  ministers,  secretaries,  attaches 
and  interpreters  met  with  the  commissioners  of 
the  customs,  the  missionaries,  the  bankers,  and 
the  promoters,  all  equal,  and  contributing  some- 
thing to  the  general  knowledge.  When  one  was 
not  a  sinalogue,  and  could  not  talk  of  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  books  by  an  ancient  emperor,  or  of 
hieroglyphics  found  in  an  old  temple,  or  the  poet- 
ry of  China,  or  the  examination  system,  or  other 
purely  Chmese  topics,  he  might  read  an  essay  on 
European  art  or  literature .  or  history.  The  use 
of  no  language  was  forbidden,  though  usually 
English  or  French  was  the  spoken  tongue.  The 
society  was  a  branch  of  the  Asiatic  Association 
of  London.  Some  of  its  papers  would  have  done 
honor  to  its  parent.     At  the  last  accounts  there 


THE  HILLS.  289 

were  many  members  of  this  association  be- 
leaguered in  the  British  Legation,  and,  no  doubt, 
death  has  ere  this  claimed  some  of  them.  Among 
them  was  the  great  teacher  and  author.  Dr.  W. 
A.  P.  Martin,  tlie  foremost  American  in  the  far 
East. 

In  the  summer  the  diplomatic  people,  the  mis- 
sionaries, and  the  families  of  the  members  of  the 
customs,  scatter  to  the  hills.  Twelve  miles  west 
of  Peking  the  mountains  rise  from  the  flat  plains. 
One  of  these  peaks  is  three  thousand  feet  high. 
On  one  spur  eight  temples  are  situated.  This 
spur  is  about  fourteen  hundred  feet  high  ;  and  on 
its  precipitous  sides  are  niched,  amid  groves  of 
old  trees,  the  charming  resorts  of  the  foreigners. 
Third  from  the  bottom  is  the  American  temple, 
which  has  housed  the  legation  from  the  time  of 
Burlingame,  1863,  to  the  present.  Its  Chinese 
name  is  Sanshanan,  which  means  "  Temple  of 
the  Three  Hills."  When  Anson  Burlingame  was 
installed  there.  Sir  Frederick  Bruce,  brother  of 
Lord  Elgin,  occupied  the  temple,  wliich  is  about 
fifty  yards  above  it,  called  the  "  Temple  of  the 
Spirit  Light."  It  has  a  fine  pagoda,  and  a  spring 
of  delicious  water.  On  one  occasion  the  two 
ministers  and  their  families  ascended  a  rocky 
eminence   near  by,  on   whose   side   appears   the 


290  CHINA'S   OPEN  BOOR, 

strong  resemblance  of  a  great  tiger.  Burlingame 
got  on  a  huge  rock,  and  delivered  a  speech  replete 
with  wit,  humor,  and  historic  loi-e,  in  which  he 
particularly  extolled  the  Bruces,  from  him  of 
Bannockburn  —  the  Uon-hearted  —  to  Elgin,  who 
made  the  treaty  of  1861  with  China.  As  he 
finished  he  named  the  spur  on  which  they  stood 
Mount  Bruce ;  and  this  name  has  among  the 
foreigners  superseded  the  Chinese  name,  and  re- 
mains in  use  to-day.  Dr.  Martin,  who  was  pres- 
ent, records  this  event.  Not  to  be  outdone  in 
politeness,  Bruce  named  another  adjoining  moun- 
tain Mount  Burlingame.  One  may  regret  that 
the  foreigner  does  not  even  leave  to  the  Chinese 
the  names  of  his  hills ;  but  little  do  the  gay  rev- 
elers at  the  temples  care  for  the  memories  of  a 
decadent  race. 

The  general  name  for  the  hills  —  Patachu  — 
the  "  Eight  Great  Places,"  remains ;  and  the 
Chinese  still  call  the  two  peaks,  one  the  "  Tiger's 
Head,"  and  the  other  "  Green  Mountain."  The 
temples  all  have  names,  —  one  the  "  Temple  of 
Long  Repose,"  and  the  highest  of  all  the  "  Pearl 
Grotto."  The  hills  are  part  of  two  great  ranges, 
one  fringing  the  Mongohan  plateau,  the  other 
bounding  the  highlands  of  the  west,  and  extending 
south  for  four  hundred  miles  to  the  Yellow  River. 


LIFE  AT  THE   HILLS.  291 

It  would  take  too  much  space  to  describe 
summer  life  at  the  hills.  Etiquette  is  thrown 
aside.  The  closest  intimacy  prevails.  Picnics, 
moonlight  suppers,  music,  trips  to  places  of  in- 
terest, were  the  order  of  the  day.  Latterly 
Great  Britain  built  a  fine  summer  house  close 
to  the  temples,  which  is  reported  to  have  been 
burned,  but  one  cannot  as  yet  credit  any  news 
from  China.  Lest  the  hills  might  be  accounted 
an  actual  paradise,  it  is  proper  to  record  some 
of  their  defects.  The  gnat  and  mosquito  were 
very  bad,  and  occasional  scorpions  were  to  be 
found.  Not  on  Patachu,  but  at  a  temple  a  little 
distance  away,  the  second  secretary  of  the  Russian 
legation  one  summer  killed  by  actual  count  one 
hundred  and  fifty-seven  scorpions.  From  the 
hills  one  sees,  eight  miles  away,  the  Luckachow 
bridge,  which  Marco  Polo  described  in  the  eleventh 
century,  and  which  is  unchanged,  except  that 
two  spans  have  been  added  to  it. 

Let  us  remark,  in  passing,  that  this  Italian  gen- 
tleman, tourist,  and  "  promoter,"  was  reported  to 
be  the  greatest  liar  the  world  ever  produced, 
except  Baron  Munchausen ;  but  so  far  as  I  or 
others  have  traced  his  career  in  his  valuable  book, 
it  has  been  found  to  be  absolutely  truthful.  At 
all  events,  both  Munchausen  and  Polo  have  been 


292  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

thrown  in  the  shade  by  recent  performances  of 
Shanghai  newsmongers. 

To  the  Chinese,  Peking  is  Peiching,  the  north- 
em  capitaL  For  the  sight-seer  there  are  not  many- 
places  of  peculiar  interest  to  visit.  The  Chinese 
are  chary  of  allowing  either  their  own  people  or 
strangers  to  penetrate  into  places  of  the  greatest 
interest.  The  Temple  of  Heaven,  for  instance,  is 
closed ;  and  except  one  dare-devil  lieutenant  in  our 
.navy,  and  Prince  Henry  of  Prussia,  nobody  got 
into  it  while  1  was  at  Peking.  The  marble  bridge 
also  was  a  place  of  great  resort  for  several  years 
after  1885 ;  but  the  empress-regent  closed  up  the 
avenue  to  it,  and  no  one  has  seen  this  beautiful 
structure  for  a  long  time. 

It  has  always  seemed  to  me  that  the  chief  charm 
of  foreign  travel  was  looking  at  the  va  et  le  vieyit 
of  the  people,  —  the  contemplation  of  street-life, 
whether  on  the  Strand,  or  the  Champs  Elysees,  or 
the  six-feet-wide  streets  of  Canton.  At  Peking 
one  sees  representatives  of  all  nationalities,  —  the 
foreign  diplomats  of  many  countries,  the  Manchu, 
the  Mongolian,  the  Korean,  the  men  from  Turke- 
stan and  Thibet,  Hi,  Burmah,  Siam,  East  India, 
and  everywhere  in  the  far  East.  INIonks  of  all 
faiths,  and  speaking  all  tongues,  are  there,  from 
the  Buddhist  fanatic  parading  with  an  iron  spike 


COSMOPOLITAN  PEKING.  293 

stuck  through  his  cheek,  or  sitting  in  a  box 
studded  with  sharp  nails,  to  a  bishop  of  the  Eng- 
lish church,  in  pumps  and  silk  stockings.  One 
sees  every  species  of  costume,  and  all  kinds  of 
mounts,  from  a  camel  to  a  donkey.  The  tea-shops 
with  tlieir  placards,  "  Don't  talk  about  public 
affairs ; "  the  Moslem  mosques,  the  great  stores 
with  their  open  fronts,  the  eating,  the  drinking, 
the  cooking  in  the  streets,  are  things  which  always 
seem  new. 

Among  the  things  that  it  is  "  the  correct  thing  " 
to  see  at  Peking  are  the  temples  of  Confucius,  the 
Observatory,  and  the  Examination  Hall.  The  place 
of  most  importance,  the  Temple  of  Heaven,  can  only 
be  seen  from  the  southern  wall ;  and  the  view  is 
from  a  considerable  distance.  Often  and  often 
these  places  have  been  described,  yet  every  gleaner 
is  supposed  to  gather  something  of  interest.  Is  it 
not  curious  that  China  should  have  so  few  remains 
of  human  art  or  labor  that  are  worthy  of  descrip- 
tion ?  Almost  the  only  relics  of  great  antiquity 
are  the  series  of  stone  drums  in  the  Confucian 
temple.  According  to  Williams  they  were  dis- 
covered about  A.D.  600,  in  the  environs  of  the 
ancient  capital  of  the  Chau  dynasty,  and  have 
been  kept  in  Peking  since  1126.  "  They  are 
irregularly  shaped  pillars,"  he  says,  "from  eighteen 


294  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

to  thirty-five  inches  high  and  about  twenty-eight 
inches  across.  The  inscriptions  are  much  worn, 
but  enough  remains  to  show  that  they  commem- 
orate a  great  hunt  of  Suen  Wang  (B.C.  827)  in 
the  region  where  they  were  found." 

The  scholars  of  the  world  will  take  off  their 
hats  reverently  in  the  plain  hall,  eighty-four  feet 
long,  with  a  roof  supported  by  pillars  forty  feet 
high,  covering  the  single  room,  which  is  old  and 
unkempt,  cheerless,  unornamented,  but  redolent 
with  the  savor  of  intellectual  immortality.  The 
great  teacher  struck  the  bottom  rock  underlying 
all  human  creeds.  Four  hundred  years  before 
Christ  he  gave  to  the  world  the  golden  rule  :  "  Do 
ye  not  unto  others  what  ye  would  not  they  should 
do  unto  you."  At  a  missionary  society  meeting 
at  Peking,  I  heard  the  members  argue  for  several 
hours  which  was  the  better  rule,  this  or  the  words 
of  Christ :  "  Do  ye  unto  others  what  ye  would 
they  should  do  unto  you ; "  and  to  the  credit  of 
these  world's  representatives  of  religious  thought, 
be  it  said  that  they  voted  by  a  large  majority  that 
there  was  no  difference  in  the  phrases. 

The  simplicity  of  the  temple  increases  our 
respect  for  the  great  agnostic  who  pretended 
not  to  tell  of  the  mysteries  of  the  furture  life 
because  he  said,  "  We  do  not  know  this  life,  how 


THE  EXAMINATION  HALL.  295 

can  we  know  the  other  ?  "  The  dust  of  ages  on 
the  floor,  the  ceiHng,  and  the  tablets  do  not 
obscure  the  fame  of  the  founder  of  Chinese  ethics, 
the  model  philosopher,  the  moralist,  whose  teach- 
ing was  so  pure  that  the  Christian  is  driven  to  the 
wild  assertion  that  his  followers  learned  the  golden 
rule  after  Christ  had  uttered  it,  and  then  incorpo- 
rated it  into  his  writings.  Suppose  they  did. 
The  offense  pardons  itself,  for  never  did  immortal 
phrase  find  a  more  appropriate  setting  than  did 
this  word  talisman  of  humanity  in  the  utterances 
of  him  who  stands  to-day  the  moral  monitor  of  his 
race.  Well  might  Confucius  have  said,  "  Homo 
sum  et  nihil  humanum  me  alienum  puto."  "I  am 
a  man,  and  nothing  that  is  human  is  indifferent  to 
me. 

The  "  Examination  Hall "  teaches  profound 
lessons  to  the  student  of  history.  Here  every 
third  year  come  the  graduates  of  the  provincial 
examinations  to  contest  for  the  degrees  which 
place  their  winners  on  the  lowest  round  of  the 
ladder  of  official  place.  The  buildings  are  great 
sheds,  divided  into  eleven  thousand  compartments, 
about  six  feet  high,  three  feet  broad,  and  six  feet 
deep,  in  which  old  and  young,  high  and  low,  pass 
three  days  writing  essays  on  which  their  fate  de- 
pends.    It  is  not  unusual  for  men  of  eighty  to  be 


296  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

among  the  number,  and  three  generations  have 
been  at  the  same  time  represented  in  the  attend- 
ance. On  this  system  of  competitive  examination 
rests  to  a  great  extent  the  permanence  of  China. 
In  the  Taiping  Rebellion  in  which  twenty  millions 
of  people  lost  their  lives,  not  one  of  the  hterati  of 
this  institution  was  found  among  the  rebels.  As 
you  go  down  the  coast  of  China  you  see  towers 
here  and  there,  and  you  are  told  that  they  were 
erected  to  commemorate  the  fact  that  a  boy  of 
that  town  carried  off  the  honors  at  Peking.  At 
the  Confucian  temple  at  Nanking  the  main  gate 
opens  only  for  the  emperor  and  the  graduates  of 
the  examinations.  It  is  a  festival  in  his  home 
village  when  the  hero  returns,  and  loyalty  to  the 
throne  pervades  all  his  kin  and  friends.  Flimsy 
writers,  who  visit  Peking,  hear  stray  stories  pro- 
claiming that  fraud  and  corruption  dominate  the 
literary  proceedings ;  but  in  fact  China  guards  with 
the  utmost  jealousy  every  part  of  the  examina- 
tions, and  any  official  who  connived  at  any  decep- 
tion would  lose  his  head.  The  system  is  the 
jewel  of  her  constitution  ;  and,  if  it  were  extended 
to  cover  the  elements  of  modern  teaching,  it  would 
be  the  model  for  the  world's  education.  How 
hard  it  is  for  this  ancient  nation  to  get  her  dues  at 
the  hands  of  ignorant,  sensational,  flighty  book- 


OBSERVATORY.  297 

makers  1  A  residence  of  a  few  days,  or  even 
hours,  in  China  l?.ys  the  foundation  for  a  great 
book  in  which  the  hapless  people  are  derided  be- 
cause they  are  not  like  Western  people.  I  be- 
seech the  world  to  go  back  to  Williams,  Martin, 
Edkins,  Blodgett,  Wildman,  —  real  synalogues  — 
most  of  whom  hved  a  generation  in  the  country 
which  they  describe. 

Everybody  goes  to  see  the  Observatory.  It  is 
not  far  from  Legation  Street.  It  adjoins  the 
city  wall.  No  use  is  made  of  it  now.  It  was 
established  by  the  Jesuit  Fathers  more  than  three 
hundred  years  ago,  and  the  great  King  Louis  XIV. 
sent  to  it  a  celestial  globe  and  an  azimuth.  In 
the  court-yard  below  are  curious  disused  instru- 
ments; and  above  are  sidereal  globes  and  triangles, 
and  other  things  whose  names  even  are  unknown. 
There  is  no  telescope.  There  was  a  clepsydra,  or 
water-clock,  but  it  has  been  dry  many  a  year.  In 
fact,  in  another  place  a  professor  of  the  Tungwen 
college  has  a  tower,  and  a  telescope,  and  there 
the  astronomical  work  goes  on  in  modern  style 
and  effect. 

I  might  mention  other  places  in  Peking,  but  I 
am  threshing  old  straw.  There  is  the  Drum 
Tower,  where  the  curfew  sounded  until  tlie 
stranger  came ;  and   the    Lama   Temple,    where 


298  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

Henry  Norman  was  mobbed;  the  big  trees,  some 
interesting  Buddhist  and  Taoist  temples,  the 
French,  Russian,  and  English  cemeteries,  the 
Hanlin  Academy,  and  the  six  public  Boards. 

To  write  of  all  these  would  require  a  book,  and 
books  on  China  bid  fair  to  become  as  common  as 
leaves  in  Vallembrosa. 

Inside  the  Tartar  city  is  the  imperial  city.  It 
is  open  to  the  world.  In  it  is  a  great  Cathohc 
cathedral,  the  Teitang.  Inside  the  imperial  city 
is  The  Forbidden  City  where  the  "  sohtary  man  " 
lives.  His  life  is  laborious.  At  one  o'clock  in 
the  morning  he  commences  to  receive  his  high 
officials  and  others  who  are  required  to  have 
audience.  The  members  of  the  Grand  Council, 
which  is  the  real  governing  body  of  China,  go  in 
to  see  the  emperor  first  in  the  morning.  They 
are  permitted  to  have  cushions  on  which  they 
kneel  during  the  time  that  they  are  m  his  pres- 
ence. Then,  come  to  wait  on  him,  members  of 
the  Tsung  li  Yamen,  and  after  that  officials  of 
other  degrees  of  rank.  All  these  are  required  to 
kneel  on  the  bare  floor.  I  have  been  told,  how- 
ever, that  many  of  those  who  have  audience  have 
cushions  concealed  under  their  flowing  robes  on 
which  they  kneel. 

As  the  temperature  in  Peking  during  the  win- 


THE  IMPERIAL    CITY.  299 

ter  is  very  low,  and  heavy  furs  are  universally 
worn,  the  walk  from  the  palace-gate  to  the  house 
itself,  which  is  about  three-quarters  of  a  mile,  is 
very  laborious  for  the  old  men  who  have  to  take 
it.  Tliis  exposure  was  the  cause  of  the  death  of 
Marquis  Tseng. 

For  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  China  an 
audience  was  granted  to  the  foreign  ministers  in 
the  precincts  of  the  Forbidden  City  in  1894.  The 
audience  took  place  in  the  hall  of  literary  glory. 
The  occasion  was  the  attainment  of  sixty  years 
of  age  by  the  Empress  Dowager,  in  whose  honor 
autograph  letters  had  been  written  by  the  chiefs 
of  states  of  all  the  treaty  powers.  Thus  ended 
the  long  contest  for  a  complete  recognition  of  the 
equality  of  the  powers  with  China.  When  it 
began  a  "kotow"  was  demanded.  When  it 
ended,  the  foreign  representatives  stood  on  the 
raised  dais  by  the  table  behind  which  the  emperor 
sat.  I  prophesy  that  before  long  the  dean  of  the 
diplomatic  corps  will  lead  the  empress  —  the  wife 
of  Kwang  Su  —  in  a  stately  dance  in  a  hall  in  the 
Forbidden  City  to  the  airs  played  by  Sousa's  band. 
By  degrees  foreign  methods  will  have  been 
pounded  into  China,  and  then  what  —  we  will 
have  killed  the  goose  that  laid  the  golden  e.^'g ! 
As   an   equal  and   active  member  of   the  family 


300  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

of  nations  her  rights  will  be  the  same  as  ours. 
She  will  exclude  whom  she  pleases,  as  we  exclude 
her  people  now.  She  will  forbid  foreign  ships  to 
sail  on  her  rivers,  as  do  we.  She  will  try  Ameri- 
cans in  her  own  courts,  as  we  try  Chinese  in  ours. 
But  worst  of  all,  she  will  become  a  protection 
country  as  we  have  become  ore.  Her  almost 
inappreciable  tariff  of  five  per  cent  will  assume 
vast  proportions,  and  away  will  go  our  markets. 
In  the  Chinese  matter  let  us  follow  Talleyrand's 
advice  and  go  slow.  The  greatest  diplomatist  is 
he  who  does  as  little  as  he  can. 


THE  FUTURE    OF   CHINA,  301 


XIV. 


THE  BOXER    UPRISING. 

[A.D.  1900.] 

THE  world  stood  aghast  in  the  midsummer 
of  1900  at  the  tidings  from  China.  In- 
formation, more  or  less  reliable,  was 
flashed  across  the  sea  that  told  of  riot  and  mas- 
sacre, and  that  hinted  at  tragedies  even  worse 
than  these.  In  the  closing  year  of  the  nineteenth 
century  Occident  and  Orient  seemed  drawing 
toward  a  mighty  and  bloody  struggle. 

The  "  Boxers,"  of  which  mention  was  made 
in  preceding  chapters,  were  proclaimed  to  be  the 
cause  of  this  uprising.  It  was  more  than  the  out- 
break of  a  fanatical  and  murderous  secret  society, 
however ;  it  was  the  protest  of  conservatism  against 
progress,  of  isolation  against  absorption,  of  China 
undivided  against  Europe  and  her  "  spheres  of 
influence,"  concessions  and  "  leased  "  ports.  It 
was,  indeed,  the  cry  of  "  China  for  the  Chinese  ! " 
that  grew  finally  into  the  mui'derous  slogan  "Death 
to  Foreigners  1 " 


302  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

The  numbers  of  the  foreigners  in  China  had 
been  rapidly  increasing,  Over  twenty  thousand 
foreign  residents  had  found  homes  or  business 
opportunities  in  the  empire,  outside  of  the  leased 
ports ;  and  the  introduction  of  foreign  methods  and 
foreign  aggressiveness  was  not  esteemed  a  benefit 
by  a  people  whose  ways  and  manners  are  so 
absolutely  at  variance  with  those  of  the  "  outside 
barbarians,"  for  which  they  have  no  better  or 
more  expressive  term  than  "foreign  devils." 

Chief  among  these  protesting  Oiientals  were  the 
members  of  the  secret  society  which  called  itself 
Yi-Ho-Chuan,  which  being  translated  means,  the 
Fists  of  Righteous  Harmony,  or  Fists  Clenched  in 
Righteous  Harmony  to  drive  out  the  Western 
Invader.  The  boxer  fights  with  clenched  fists  ; 
therefore,  to  this  secret  society,  pledged  to  the 
strenuous  and  forcible  extermination  of  the  un- 
desired  foreigner,  has  been  given  in  English  the 
simple  title  of  "  the  Boxers." 

China  is  a  land  of  secret  societies,  even  as 
America  is  a  land  of  clubs  and  fraternal  organizer 
tions.  Of  these  societies  the  oldest  is  the  Triad, 
sometimes  called  the  Hung  League,  or  the  Heaven 
and  Earth  Society,  having  for  its  symbol,  or  badge, 
a  triangle.  Out  of  this  society  of  the  Triad,  the 
Boxers  sprang ;  and  as  many  of  the  secret  soci- 


THE  BOXERS.  303 

eties  of  China  have  for  their  main  objects  antago- 
nism to  the  imperial  house,  reform  in  governmental 
methods  and  resistance  to  foreign  aggression,  the 
chief  desires  which  united  the  Boxers  were  secret 
and  open  resistance  to  the  dynasty  in  power,  the 
expulsion  of  the  Manchu  rulers  of  the  land,  the 
"  removal "  by  edict  or  force  of  all  foreigners,  and 
the  establishment  of  a  purely  Cliinese  dynasty 
upon  the  dragon  throne. 

The  Boxers  are,  therefore,  not  simply  a  rabble, 
sprung  from  the  mobs  or  masses  of  China's  dis- 
contents and  malcontents.  They  are  but  one  factor 
in  a  mighty  nation  which  finds  the  world  forcing 
its  way  through  the  open  door,  and  seeks  to  pro- 
test against  and  resist  intrusion. 

"  The  foreigners  must  go  !  "  is  the  cry  of  the 
Boxers;  and  to  compel  this  withdrawal  of  the 
"  outside  barbarians "  the  Boxers  and  the  great 
conservative  element  of  the  Chinese  that  sympa- 
thizes with  this  anti-foreign  movement,  suddenly 
finds  itself  in  arras  against  the  world. 

Chinese  diplomacy  claims  everything  and  admits 
nothing.  The  ruling  power  that  fills  the  dragon 
throne,  the  mysterious  dowager  empress  and  the 
boy  emperor,  Kwang  Su,  protested,  as  the  anti- 
foreign  element  began  to  assert  itself  in  1900, 
that  the  movement  was  not  countenanced  by  the 


304  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

throne,  but  was  indeed  a  rebellious  utterance 
against  the  imperial  will. 

Gradually,  however,  the  Boxer  disturbance  grew 
into  an  uprising.  Taking  its  start  in  the  province 
of  Shantung,  where  the  British  and  Germans  had 
obtained  footholds  on  the  land  in  the  concessions 
of  Kiao-chau  and  Wei-Hai-Wei  to  the  wrath  and 
despair  of  all  China,  the  hostility  of  the  Boxers 
displayed  itself  in  anti-foreign  and  anti-Christian 
riots,  endangering  the  missionaries  and  their  con- 
verts, destroying  missions  and  school-buildings, 
and  finally  breaking  out  into  open  and  cruel 
massacre. 

North  China  was  drawn  into  the  movement. 
The  Boxers  grew  in  the  size  and  strength  of  their 
organization ;  and  instead  of  being,  as  the  viceroy 
Li  Hung  Chang  declared,  "  a  rabble  led  away  by 
fanaticism  and  anti-Christian  feeling,"  the  Boxers 
pushed  from  murder  and  plunder  to  organized  and 
aggressive  assaults  upon  all  foreigners  and  foreign 
property.  Officials,  nobles,  viceroys,  and  princes 
were  in  sympathy  with,  or  actually  in  the  leader- 
ship of,  the  uprising;  and  even  the  remarkable 
woman  who  for  years  has  dominated  and  shaped 
events  in  China  was  the  unavowed,  but  evident 
protector  and  instigator  of  China's  uprising  against 
the  hated  foreigner. 


THE    UPRISING   OF  1900.  305 

In  May,  1900,  the  turbulence  and  persecutions 
of  the  Boxers  became  too  pronounced  to  be  longer 
permitted  by  the  outside  world.  Commercial, 
political,  and  religious  interests  in  the  empire 
were  so  seriously  jeopardized  and  threatened,  that 
the  great  European  powers  addressed  a  joint  note 
of  protest  and  demand  to  the  Tsun-K-Yamen,  or 
foreign  office,  of  the  Chinese  government. 

But  the  "foreign  office"  of  China  is  a  diplo- 
matic body  which,  as  usual,  denies  everything, 
promises  much,  and  does  nothing  that  is  expected 
of  it.  The  protest  of  the  powers,  through  their 
ministers,  met  with  such  indifference  and  absence 
of  action,  that  the  representatives  of  the  Powers 
decided  on  a  "  demonstration "  in  the  harbor  of 
Taku.  This  was  that  seaport  of  Peking,  where, 
in  1857,  the  adobe  forts  which  the  natives  con- 
sidered impregnable  had  been  battered  to  pieces 
by  the  guns  of  the  British  navy. 

Great  Britain  and  Russia,  France  and  Germany, 
Italy,  Japan,  and  the  United  States,  dispatched  to 
the  port  of  Taku  one  or  more  of  their  warships 
nearest  at  hand,  and  prepared  to  enforce  the 
demands  already  made,  that  China  take  instant 
measures  to  suppress  the  Boxer  society,  and  pro- 
vide guaranties  for  the  protection  of  foreign  sub- 
jects and  citizens  in  China. 


ju 


306  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

When  this  was  not  done  —  or,  rather,  when  the 
halting  promises  of  the  diplomats  of  China's  for- 
eign office  were  shown  to  be  but  a  mockery  of 
action  —  the  allied  naval  forces  at  Taku  drew  from 
each  of  the  warships  a  detail  of  sailors  and  marines 
and  dispatched  them  to  Peking  as  additional 
guards  for  the  foreign  ministers,  ambassadors,  and 
officials  on  duty  at  the  court  of  Pekin. 

Naturally  resenting  this  show  of  force,  and  re- 
garding the  whole  matter  from  an  altogether 
different  standpoint  from  that  occupied  by  Euro- 
peans, the  Chinese  government  objected  even 
while  seeming  to  assent  to  the  methods  of  the 
foreigners ;  but  the  people,  especially  those  favor- 
able to  the  Boxers,  or  stirred  to  anger  by  their 
endeavors,  raised  the  alarm  that  the  "foreign 
devils  "  were  preparing  to  invade  the  empire,  and 
proceeded  to  register  their  protests  in  blood  and 
plunder. 

China  is  the  land  of  convservatism ;  but,  as  her 
story  shows,  discord  and  rebellion  have  perpetually 
smothered  beneath  her  conversatism  only  to 
break  out  into  revolution,  upheaval,  and  dynastic 
changes. 

Into  this  tendency  toward  revolt,  there  came, 
through  years  of  contact  with  another  civilization, 
a  growing  element  which  sought  to  force  Cliinp. 


FOR    THE  RELIEF   OF  PEKING.     307 

out  of  her  generations  of  conservatism,  and  bring 
her  into  step  with  the  enlightened  nations  of  the 
world.  A  powerful  reform  party,  itself  in  a 
measure  a  secret  society,  was  organized,  and  the 
best,  most  intelligent,  and  most  progressive  among 
the  Chinese  at  home  and  abroad  were  enrolled  as 
members.  This  reform  party  sought  especially  to 
free  the  young  emperor  from  the  domination  and 
control  of  the  despotic  empress  dowager,  and 
place  China  in  the  same  advanced  Kne  that  Japan 
had  taken,  and  which  the  young  emperor  had  once 
attempted  to  occupy.  Naturally,  the  imperious 
old  dowager,  a  very  Empress  Wu  in  methods, 
craft,  and  energy,  resented  this  blow  at  her  power, 
and,  becoming  more  reactionary  than  ever  in  her 
antagonism  to  new  ideas  and  reform  leaders,  per- 
secuted, punished,  or  expelled  them  from  the 
empire. 

The  growing  number  of  Christian  converts 
among  the  Chinese  was  viewed  with  alarm  by  the 
reactionary  party,  the  imperial  government,  and 
the  restless  champions  of  "  China  for  the  Chinese," 
such  as  composed  the  Boxer  society.  The  more 
Christian  converts  made,  the  closer  was  China 
drawn  towards  the  reform  party,  and  especially 
toward  those  "  foreign  devils "  who  were  gradu- 
ally forcing  their  way  into  China,  occupying  strips 


308  CHINA'S    OPEN    DOOR. 

of  territory,  and  becoming  more  and  more  firmly 
established  on  Chinese  soil. 

The  outbreaks  against  the  missions  and  the 
converts  which  in  May,  1900,  precipitated  the 
Boxer  trouble,  and  led  to  complications  with 
the  representatives  of  foreign  powers  in  China,  in- 
creased in  intensity,  as  success  in  rioting  and  mas- 
sacre led  to  new  outbreaks.  Although  indications 
of  this  turbulence  had  been  numerous,  few  among 
the  foreign  residents  of  China  had  any  inkling  of 
what  was  in  store  for  them,  though  some  of  them 
discovered  the  gathering  cloud,  and  sought  to  give 
warning. 

But  the  Boxer  disturbance,  begun  in  an  obscure 
way,  was  found  to  appeal  to  the  masses  by  its 
successful  harrying  of  the  foreigners ;  it  appealed 
to  the  ruling  classes  by  the  possibilities  it  opened 
for  successful  resistance  to  these  same  foreigners 
and  their  final  expulsion  or  extermination.  The 
government  of  China,  while  assuring  the  foreign 
ministers,  first,  that  the  Boxers  were  but  a  rabble 
who  need  not  be  feared,  and,  later,  that  they  would 
at  once  be  suppressed,  secretly  countenanced  the 
riotous  disturbers,  and,  as  usual,  while  promising 
one  thing  did  quite  another. 

When,  at  last,  the  foreign  representatives 
united  for  the  protection  of  their  respective  inter- 


DUPLICITY  OF   GOVERNMENT      309 

ests  and  countrymen  in  China,  and  the  naval 
demonstration  was  made  at  Taku,  and  when,  a 
few  days  after,  the  guards  about  the  legations  in 
Peking  were  strengthened  by  details  from  the  war- 
ships, the  Chinese  of  the  northern  provinces 
became  more  inflamed  against  the  "  outside  barba- 
rians," and  breathed  out  "  threatenings  and  slaugh- 
ter "  against  missionaries,  ministers,  and  marines. 

All  that  was  needed  for  the  uprising  of  the 
Boxers  and  their  sympathizers  was  a  capable 
leader.  Matters  were  fast  developing  that  would 
bring  such  a  leader  to  the  front.  Missionaries 
and  railway  engineers  —  pioneers  of  civilization  — 
were  threatened,  attacked,  and  obliged  to  fight  or 
flee ;  refugees  hastened  to  the  coast ;  more  than  a 
thousand  Europeans  and  Americans  were  gathered 
within  the  walls  of  Peking,  under  the  protection  of 
the  legations ;  and  when  an  open  conflict  south  of 
Peking,  between  Boxers  and  a  detail  of  Cossacks 
marching  to  the  relief  of  certain  imperiled  Belgian 
refugees  at  Pao  Ting  Fu,  led  to  more  excited  con- 
ditions among  the  natives  of  the  provinces  along 
the  Yellow  Sea,  the  consuls  at  the  treaty  port  of 
Tientsin  announced  to  the  admirals  at  Taku  that 
the  situation  was  most  alarming,  and  the  "  Pow- 
ers "  decided  to  take  further  steps  to  protect  their 
interests  and  subjects  in  China. 


310  CHINA'S    OPEN   DOOR. 

The  rage  of  the  Boxers  and  their  riotous  con- 
tingent was  especially  directed  against  the  rail- 
ways, which  were  slowly  but  surely  stretching  out 
lines  of  civilization  across  the  great  empire. 
Rails  were  torn  up,  stations  wrecked,  and  supplies 
destroyed ;  and  when  at  last  the  chief  line  of  com- 
munication between  the  capital  and  the  sea,  be- 
tween Peking,  and  Tientsin,  was  cut,  the  naval 
forces  of  the  foreign  powers  in  the  harbor  of  Taku 
determined  that  something  must  be  done  at  once. 
Two  thousand  marines  and  blue-jackets  drafted 
from  the  various  warshij)s  were  placed  under  the 
command  of  the  senior  naval  officer,  Admiral  Sey- 
mour of  the  British  navy;  and  on  June  10th  this 
international  column  marched  out  of  Tientsin 
on  the  way  to  Peking  to  repair  the  railway,  and 
then  march  to  the  relief  of  the  foreigners  and  the 
legations  who  were  practically  imprisoned  in  the 
capital. 

This  was  taken  by  the  Chinese  as  an  open 
defiance.  Rioters  became  fighting-men,  and  the 
expedition  under  the  lead  of  Seymour  was  speed- 
ily surrounded  by  an  overwhelming  force.  Its 
communications  with  the  coast  were  cut,  and  for 
days  not  only  the  ministers  and  foreigners  in 
Peking,  but  Admiral  Seymour  and  his  little  com- 
mand, were  completely  lost,  while  only  vague  and 


A  BIRirS  EVE   VIE IV 
FROM  THE  GULF  OF  PECHILI  TO  PEKIN. 

Shatving  the  route  of  the  Relief  Expedition  of  t()oo. 


SETMOUR'S  ADVANCE,  311 

terrible  rumors  as  to  their  fate  shook  the  nerves 
of  two  continents. 

Thereupon  the  powers,  angered  at  the  indiffer- 
ence of  the  Chinese  government  toward  its  treaty 
stipulations,  and  believing  that  some  base  of  oper- 
ations was  necessary  if  a  conflict  with  the  riotous 
elements  in  China  was  necessary,  determined  to 
make  the  harbor  of  Taku  such  a  base.  They 
demanded  of  the  Chinese  commander  of  the  forts 
at  Taku  the  temporary  possession  of  his  defenses, 
which  was  of  course  refused ;  and  the  refusal  was 
emphasized  by  the  guns  of  the  forts  firing  upon 
the  foreign  warships.  This  was  startlingly  like 
war ;  but  the  powers  were  not  at  war  with  China, 
for  the  Chinese  government  still  repudiated  the 
Boxers,  and  promised  their  suppression  and  pun- 
ishment. To  attack  the  forts  at  Taku  would  be 
to  lift  the  trouble  out  of  a  riotous  disturbance  to 
an  actual  conflict;  and  certain  of  the  international 
naval  commanders,  especially  Admiral  Kempff  of 
the  American  navy,  did  not  feel  that  their  orders 
from  home  authorized  them  "  to  initiate  any  act  of 
war  with  a  country  with  which  my  country  is  at 
peace." 

Events  proved  the  wisdom  of  Admiral  Kempff 's 
course  ;  but  the  other  commanders  decided  against 
him,  and  on  the  17th  of  June  the  foreign  warships 


312  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

attacked  the  mud  forts  of  Taku  and  after  a  bom- 
bardment of  six  hours,  silenced,  captured,  and 
occupied  them. 

It  was  a  victory  for  the  international  fleet,  but 
it  had  disastrous  results.  The  boom  of  the  for- 
eign guns  at  the  mouth  of  the  Pei-Ho  River 
changed  the  condition  of  tilings  at  once.  Behind 
the  adobe  walls  of  Taku  were  trained  artillerists 
and  foreign  drilled  soldiers  of  the  Chinese  army ; 
the  attack  had  been  upon  government  property ; 
and  it  was,  as  Admiral  Kempff  declared,  an  act 
of  war. 

It  had  that  effect  upon  China ;  for  even  while 
the  government  with  characteristic  unreliability 
protested  and  promised,  it  also  hurried  troops  into 
the  disturbed  section.  A  Chinese  army  gathered 
about  Peking;  a  Chinese  army  marched  toward 
Tientsin ;  and  the  legations  and  refugees  at 
Peking  as  well  as  Admiral  Seymour's  relief  col- 
umn, were  placed  in  still  greater  danger. 

]\Iore  than  this,  the  bombardment  of  the  Taku 
forts  brought  to  the  front  a  leader  for  the  Chinese 
forces, — the  Manchu  prince,  Tuan,  athlete,  rough- 
rider,  and  frontier  fighter,  a  bitter  hater  of  all  for- 
eigners, and  a  member  of  the  Boxer  society. 

He  speedily  became  not  only  the  head  and 
leader  of  the  Boxers,  but  the  dominant  power  at 


GATHERING  OF  CHINESE  ARMY.  313 

Peking,  overshadowing  not  only  the  timid  and  bull- 
dozed emperor,  but  the  strenuous  empress  as  well. 
A  great  Chinese  anny  of  experienced  and  foreign- 
drilled  fighting-men  gathered  for  the  defense  of 
the  capital  and  the  extermination  of  the  "  foreign 
devils,"  and  the  Chinese  situation  commanded  the 
attention  of  the  world. 

The  extermination  of  the  "  foreign  devils " 
seemed  but  a  matter  of  time  and  quick  action. 
For  while  the  powers  hesitated  over  a  policy 
which  might  jeopardize  the  interests  that  were 
jealously  guarded  against  each  other  as  well  as 
against  China,  and  feared  that  individual  or  joint 
action  even,  might  be  bad  for  commercial  and 
political  interests.  Admiral  Seymour's  hard-light- 
ing allies  were  endeavoring  to  force  their  way  to 
the  relief  of  the  refugees  in  Peking. 

"  A  great  foreign  army  is  marching  on  Peking," 
the  Boxers  and  the  Imperial  troops  alike  declared ; 
and  looking  upon  Admiral  Seymour's  force  as  the 
advance  of  the  great  ai-my  of  invasion,  they  pre- 
pared to  surround,  defeat,  and  exterminate  it. 

They  accomplished  the  first  two  plans ;  but  it 
iS  not  easy  even  for  a  great  Chinese  array  to  ex- 
terminate a  well-led,  well-drilled  force  of  allied 
fighters,  selected  from  the  fleets  of  Great  Britain, 
Russia,  Germany,  France,  the  United  States,  Italy, 


314  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

Austria,  and  Japan.  Day  after  day  the  little  army 
was  attacked ;  day  after  day  they  fought  off  their 
assailants.  With  communications  cut,  the  rail- 
ways destroyed,  provisions  running  out,  the  sick 
and  wounded  becoming  each  day  an  increasing 
obstacle  to  advance,  and  with  a  host  of  aroused, 
revengeful,  determined,  and  relentless  Chinese  en- 
circling and  pressing  upon  them,  the  allies  found 
advance  in  face  of  such  odds  impossible,  and  when 
within  twenty-three  miles  of  Peking  they  deter- 
mined to  withdraw. 

Retreat  was  now  almost  as  hard  as  advance ; 
but,  fighting  step  by  step,  they  slowly  fell  back 
toward  Tientsin,  and,  capturing  the  imperial 
arsenal  above  that  city,  found  there  sufficient  store 
of  rice  and  ammunition  to  hold  out  against  the 
besiegers  until  a  relief  force  of  Americans  and 
Russians,  undismayed  by  a  first  repulse,  forced 
their  way  through  the  Chinese  hosts,  and  relieved 
the  beleagured  relief  column. 

This  relieving  the  relief  force  which  could  not 
relieve  Peking  left  the  endangered  foreigners  with- 
in the  walls  of  the  capital  in  still  greater  peril ; 
for  the  attempt  of  the  allies  aroused  the  Chinese 
to  fresh  anger,  and  the  thousand  or  more  refugees 
were  practically  imprisoned  within  the  "com- 
pounds "   of  the   legations,  from  which  communi- 


ANTI-FOREIGN  MOVEMENT.  315 

cation  with  the  outside  world  was  absolutely 
denied  them. 

Meantime  reinforcements  to  the  International 
forces  in  and  about  Tientsin  swelled  the  allied 
army.  Fourteen  thousand  troops  had  already  been 
landed ;  and  additional  soldiers  and  seamen,  with 
warships  and  supply  ships,  were  dispatched  to  the 
harbor  of  Taku. 

The  Chinese  also  were  massing  for  resistance  ; 
and  Prince  Tuan,  in  command  at  Peking,  with 
his  soldiers  and  Boxers  quickly  invested  Tien- 
tsin. A  force  of  fully  a  hundred  thousand  men 
controlled  the  country  about  Tientsin,  most  of 
them  well  drilled,  and  supplied  with  all  the  arms 
and  implements  of  modern  warfare.  Inflamed  by 
these  preparations  for  conflict,  all  Northern  China 
fraternized  with  the  Boxers ;  and  proclamations 
calling  upon  all  loyal  Chinamen  to  expel  the 
foreigners  were  posted  throughout  the  northern 
provinces.  The  treaty  ports  were  threatened, 
refugees  crowded  the  foreign  settlements,  and  de- 
struction and  riot  were  everywhere  imminent. 
The  anti-foreign  movement  extended  south  and 
west ;  it  broke  away  from  the  control  of  the  crafty 
dowager  empress,  who  had  abetted  and  wished  to 
direct  it,  and  the  influence  of  Prince  Tuan  over- 
topped all  others.- 


316  CHINA'S   OPEN  DOOR. 

It  was  clear  that  the  Chinese  forces  in  and 
about  the  native  portion  of  the  city  of  Tientsin 
must  be  assaulted  at  once,  if  the  "  loss  of  pres- 
tige "  resulting  from  the  defeat  of  Seymour's  at- 
tempted relief  expedition  were  to  be  overcome. 

The  allies  acted  at  once.  Three  desperate  at- 
tempts at  assault  on  the  native  city,  and  against 
the  Chinese  troops,  were  made  on  Monday,  Wednes- 
day, and  Friday,  the  ninth,  eleventh,  and  thir- 
teenth of  July.  The  Chinese  were  beaten  at  the 
arsenal  and  at  the  railway  station ;  but  when,  on 
Friday,  the  thirteenth,  seven  thousand  allies 
stormed  the  walls  of  the  native  city  held  by 
twenty  thousand  Chinese  armed  with  rifled  and 
machine  guns,  the  allies  were  repulsed  with  heavy 
loss;  and  the  disaster  was  only  retrieved  by  a 
second  desperate  assault  when,  on  the  17th  of 
July,  a  breach  was  made  in  the  walls.  Through 
this  tlie  allies  charged,  and  carried  the  defenses  by 
storm,  driving  out  the  routed  Chinese,  and  occu- 
pying the  native  city  and  its  fortifications. 

The  fall  of  Tientsin  was  a  double  victory  for 
the  allies.  It  secured  and  protected  their  base  of 
operations  and  concentration,  and  restored  the 
prestige  of  their  arms,  which  the  Chinese,  first 
victorious,  seemed  to  have  destroyed.  At  once, 
as  reinforcements  began  to  arrive,  dispatched  by 


FALL    OF   TIENTSIN.  317 

the  several  governments,  an  army  was  concen- 
trated for  the  march  on  Peking  through  a  country 
held  by  a  rapidly  increasing  Chinese  army  com- 
manded by  Prince  Tuan,  and  determined  to  arrest 
and  drive  back  the  foreign  invasion. 

Meantime  the  world  waited  for  tidings  from 
Peking,  where  the  ambassadors  and  muiisters  of  the 
great  powers,  and  the  refugees  from  beyond  the 
gates,  were  crowded  within  the  walls  of  the  lega- 
tions, besieged  by  a  relentless  host  of  Boxers  and 
Imperial  troops.  Tidings  came,  but  none  were 
reliable.  Direct  information  from  the  beleaguered 
"  legationers "  could  not  be  obtained ;  and  the 
news  that  came  through  Chinese  sources  was  as 
conflicting  as  it  was  terrible.  Details  of  horrible 
massacres,  assurances  of  absolute  safety,  stories  of 
determined  resistance,  and  tales  of  decimation  by 
attack  and  starvation,  pressed  closely  upon  each 
other  unto,  none  knew  what  to  believe,  the  hope- 
ful hoping,  the  despondent  desponding.  After 
disheartening  delays,  and  in  the  face  of  home  op- 
position, the  allied  array  at  last  moved  forward 
toward  Peking ;  and  at  daybreak  on  the  fifth  of 
August,  sixteen  thousand  of  them  defeated,  at 
Peitsang,  ten  miles  from  Tientsin,  a  great  Chi- 
nese army,  which  disputed  the  foreign   advance. 

On  the  sixth  of  August,  Yangtsun,  the  second 


318  CHINA'S    OPEN  DOOR. 

station  on  the  way  to  Peking,  was  captured  by  the 
allies,  and  the  Chinese  showed  signs  of  breaking 
before  the  advance  of  the  International  columns. 

A  victory  is  for  the  Chinese  the  strongest  of 
all  arguments.  If  the  advance  on  the  capital 
prove  victorious  the  end  is  not  far  off;  but  the 
fate  of  the  imprisoned  ones  in  Peking  is  still  in 
doubt ;  and  the  dreadful  mystery  remains  a  mys- 
tery even  as  this  book  goes  to  press,  although  the 
indications  point  to  lying  Chinese  rumors  and  the 
pluck  of  the  "  legati oners." 

But  victory  is  no  easy  task.  Even  the  battles 
at  Peitsang  and  Yangtsun  were  won  by  the  In- 
ternational forces  at  heavy  cost ;  and  the  allies, 
pressing  forward  in  the  advance  on  Peking,  pledged 
to  punish  and  avenge,  must  face  a  vast  army  of 
disciplined  and  undisciplined  Chinese  troops 
massed  before  the  closed  door  that  conceals  the 
fearful  mystery  of  Peking. 

Thus  the  world  waits  expectant,  while  China^ 
so  often  desolated  and  so  often  overrun,  yet  never 
conquered  or  controlled,  rouses  herseK  for  the 
final  conflict  between  the  forces  of  conservatism 
and  civilization  which,  through  blood  and  ven- 
geance, through  diplomacy  and  death,  rages  around 
the  oft-assaulted,  desperately  defended  portal  of 
China's  Open  Door. 


As  Talked  in  the  Sanctum 

By  ROUNSEVELLE  WILDMAN,  U.S.  Consul- 
General  at  Hong  Kong;  author  of  ** Tales  of  the 
Malayan  Coast,*^  etc.     12mo»  doth^  gilt  top,  $J.OO 


MR  WILDMAN  was  at  one  time  editor  of  a 
prominent  magazine  on  the  Pacific  coast.  He 
here  presents,  in  a  charming  and  attractive  volume, 
the  talks  on  men  and  things  that  occupied  himself 
and  his  friends — the  Contributor,  the  Poet,  the 
Reader,  the  Parson,  the  Office  Boy  and  others  as, 
day  by  day,  they  met  to  discuss,  dissect  and  talk  over 
the  world  and  its  happenings  as  these  appeared  to 
the  "  Senate  "  of  the  editor's  sanctum.  It  is  a  book 
that  will  be  found  at  once  entertaining,  amusing, 
suggestive,  philosophic  and  delightfully  real. 


Tales  of  the  Malayan  Coast 

By  ROUNSEVELLE  WILDMAN,  Consul-General 
of  the  United  States  at  Hong  Kong.  One  volume, 
l2tnOf  illustrated  by  Henry  Sandham,  $1.00 


A  NOTABLE  collection  of  Malayan  stories  and 
sketches  reproducing  both  the  atmosphere  and 
flavor  of  the  Orient,  and  emphasized  also  by  a  dash 
of  American  earnestness  and  vigor.  The  book  is 
dedicated  by  permission  to  Admiral  George  Dewey, 
Mr.  Wildman's  "  friend  and  hero." 


Eben  Holden. 

A  Tale  of  the  North  Country. 

By  IRVING  BACHELLER,  author  of  '*  A  Master 
of  Silence/'  J2ino,  cloth,  gilt. top,  rough  edges.    $J.50. 

A  REFRESHING  story  of  the  "plain  people"  of 
country  and  town.  The  "  North  Country  "'  is  the 
farm-land  of  St.  Lawrence  County  in  Northern  New 
York.  Uncle  Eb,  —  hero,  "hired-man"  and  border  phil- 
anthropist —  is  a  lover  of  animals,  of  nature  and  of  all 
creation.  The  scene  shifts  to  New  York  in  war  time, 
and  the  story  of  the  rout  at  Bull  Run  is  unsurpassed  in 
realism.  Altogether  it  is  one  of  the  brightest  and  most 
popular  of  recent  books,  for  it  appeals  ta  that  love  of 
mingling  sentiment  and  humor  that  all  men  and  women 
like. 

The  Last  of  the  Flatboats. 

A  Story  of  the  Mississippi  and  its  Inter- 
esting Family  of  Rivers. 

By  GEORGE  GARY  EGGLESTON,  author  of 
**The  "Wreck  of  the  Redbird."  I2nio,  cloth,  illus- 
trated by  Charlotte  Harding.    $1.50. 

THE  story  of  five  \Vestern  boys  who  take  a  flatboat 
on  a  venture  to  New  Orleans.     They  are  bright, 
apt,    and  intelligent  young  fellows,  and   find  fun, 
adventure,  and  profit  in  their  scheme.     This  book  is  an 
absolute  storehouse  of  mid-west  facts,  but    it  is    also 
full  of  action,  qianliness,  endeavor,  and  adventure. 

LOTHROP  PUBLISHING  COMPANY,  .  .  BOSTON. 


REGIONAL  LIBRARV  FACILITY 


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